Kenya’s Supreme Court has dismissed Raila Odinga’s challenge to the results of last month’s presidential election. Odinga had accused his opponent, William Ruto, of electoral fraud after he was declared the winner.
The Kenyan Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by presidential candidate Raila Odinga challenging election results that showed his opponent, William Ruto, had won the country’s August 9 election.
Last month, Deputy President Ruto was declared the winner by a narrow margin of less than two percentage points over veteran opposition politician Odinga.
What did the court have to decide?
Odinga filed his petition, claiming he had “enough evidence” to prove he was the true winner of the August 9 election, which ranks one of the most expensive polls in Africa.
He had described the handling of the election results by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as a “travesty.”
The Supreme Court was asked to rule on whether there had been tampering with polling station results and whether the postponement of gubernatorial and legislative elections had disadvantaged any candidate.
Soon after midday local time, Chief Justice Martha Koome began reading the verdict, which listed the court’s responses to the nine issues at the heart of the case.
There was no evidence of systemic ballot tampering, according to Koome, and the postponement would have affected all candidates equally.
She also stated that the technology used by officials met “integrity, verifiability, security, and transparency” standards.
Kenya’s Supreme Court is the country’s highest court and serves as “the final arbiter and interpreter of the constitution.” It is the third time the court has been asked to resolve an election dispute since its establishment under Kenya’s 2010 constitution.
The outcome had been eagerly anticipated in Kenyan media, with newspaper front pages carrying headlines such as “Judgment Day” and “Moment of Truth.”
Odinga has previously claimed that he was cheated in polls in 2007, 2013, and 2017.
Meanwhile, Ruto urged the court to dismiss the petition, accusing Odinga of attempting to “have another bite at the cherry through a judicially-forced re-run.”
Both the Ruto and Odinga camps have promised to respect the court’s decision.
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President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third five-year term, has publicly chastised his deputy Ruto and endorsed Odinga.
Before becoming deputy president, Ruto led the centre-right Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) Alliance and served as agriculture minister.
Odinga ran for president as part of the politically diverse Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) Alliance, which also included Kenyatta’s Jubilee party.
Kenyatta’s Kikuyu ethnic group is the most populous in the country, and it has produced three of the country’s four presidents since independence from Britain in 1963.
This time, however, there was no Kikuyu candidate. Both frontrunners chose a Kikuyu running mate to be vice president, recognizing the importance of ethnic blocs in voting.
Copyright: Reuters
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