Richard Ngatia’s team has escalated its rejection of Thursday’s Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry election results by asking the world chamber’s federation to suspend the local trade agency.
Ngatia who was seeking reelection lost to his deputy Erick Rutto who won with 291 votes against 208.
Some 500 delegates voted in the poll held at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on June 8.
But Ngatia’s team led by running mate Abdulwalli Shariff Ahmed has rejected the results citing massive rigging.
And on June 9, a day after the election, Shariff wrote to the International Chamber of Commerce asking that the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry be suspended.
He said KNCCI is a Business Membership Organization (BMO), a key pillar of Kenya’s democratic society that should uphold the highest standards of integrity, ethics and transparency in its activities.
“Regrettably, the actions of KNCCI in the recent times have fallen significantly short of these expectations,” Shariff said in reference the the polls which he maintains were rigged.
“As the running mate of the incumbent chamber of President Richard Ngatia, I have been privy to unsettling practices that have marked the build up to the election,” he added.
He said these acts have been so grave and widespread that they have painted the KNCCI as an organisation driven by tribal interests, religious and one that promotes a “pay to play culture.”
“This trend is not only worrying but also reflects an alarming decline in the moral fabric that the KNCCI once stood for.”
Shariff claims the election was marred with numerous unethical and illegal actions, including bribery, manipulation of elections rules and undue government interference.
“Delegates were allegedly ferried, lodged in hotels and provided with financial incentives to influence their vote,” he said
He claims there is substantial proof indicating irregularities were committed and urged the International Chamber of Commerce to disassociate itself from the Kenyan affiliate and engage investigative agencies to reveal the truth.