Former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, heads the AU Observer Mission in Kenya. [Photo/ www.businesslive.co.za]
The AU's Observer Mission in Kenya has spoken on the October 26 polls in which incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner.
Mr. Thabo Mbeki has characterised the statement read by him as a preliminary assessment of the polls and said that a more comprehensive statement would be issued soon.
The preliminary statement read out in Nairobi could trigger a great sense of unease within Jubilee as it was not a resounding expression of confidence in the conduct of the rerun.
Grilled on whether he thought the poll was credible by an NTV journalist, Mr. Mbeki appeared to stonewall.
''That is a political question that we cannot answer. Our only duty is to report truthfully what we have seen.'' The former president of South Africa said.
The statement blows to the surface the difficult task the observer mission faces in delivering a comprehensive assessment of the rerun which scores of Kenyans boycotted.
Observer missions grappled with an angry backlash after giving the nullified August 8 polls thumbs up.