Fred Matiang'i (Front), current acting Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Internal Security and Coordination, addresses the press in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Aug. 9, 2017. Fred Mating'i has advised all Kenyans to remain calm as they wait for the final general election results. (Xinhua/Charles Onyango)

NAIROBI, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Heads of foreign election observer groups monitoring Kenya polls on Wednesday urged key stakeholders to maintain peace and harmony as presidential vote tallying gets underway.

A joint statement from the heads of election observation missions prevailed upon political parties, aspirants and their supporters to be patient and orderly during the counting and transmission of presidential election results.

"It is important to remind all stakeholders that the electoral process is still ongoing. We recognize the tallying of results at all levels is a critical part of the process," the groups said.

"We therefore call on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to continue within the constitutionally provided time frame, the tallying with full integrity and transparency so that all Kenyans can trust the announced results," they said.

The heads of nine foreign election observer missions including the EU, the Commonwealth, the Africa Union and The Carter Center issued their statement against a backdrop of skepticism expressed by opposition presidential flag bearer, Raila Odinga over authenticity of results transmitted online by the electoral agency.

The results indicate Odinga is trailing his rival President Uhuru Kenyatta at 44.81 percent while the incumbent has maintained a commanding lead at 54.31 percent.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Odinga alleged the results transmission system had been hacked and critical data manipulated to favor his rival.

The standoff over tallying of presidential votes could prolong the official announcement of the winner.

The observer missions said they had confidence in the ability of the electoral body to tally presidential results in an efficient and transparent manner.

"The IEBC has put in place a process to provide for the integrity and transparency of the elections that should be allowed to continue. To achieve this, IEBC personnel need to be able to work freely in a secure environment, with time to complete the process," said the foreign election observers.

They appealed to political parties, candidates and their supporters to be patient as the tallying process reach a critical phase.

At the same time, the foreign election observer missions urged aggrieved parties to seek redress through the courts instead of engaging in grandstanding that could jeopardize peace and harmony.