Kenya’s Supreme Court upholds election of Uhuru Kenyatta

Kenya’s Supreme Court has upheld the election of incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta dismissing two petitions which challenged his election in the controversial October 26 fresh vote that saw the main Opposition party Nasa boycott.

Supreme Court President Justice David Maraga who delivered a brief version of the ruling Monday morning said the prayers sought by both petitioner two and four lacked merit paving way for President Kenyatta’s swearing in later this month.

Petitioner two, a former lawmaker and anti-corruption chief Harun Mwau had sought the court’s intervention to nullify the October 26 election noting it was not conducted in line with the constitution. “By refusing to conduct fresh nominations, IEBC and Chebukati (IEBC Chairman) violated Article 83 of the constitution thereby denying eligible citizens the right to vote or stand for the elections,” said Mwau in his petition.

Petitioners four, Khelef Khalifa and Njonjo Mue argued that the President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election was affected by the fact that elections were not conducted in all constituencies. The country’s electoral body Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) failed to conduct elections in 25 constituencies in four counties following violence which made it impossible for the exercise to be conducted.

The Supreme Court nullified Uhuru Kenyatta’s election in August 8 ordering fresh polls in 60 days. President Kenyatta had garnered 8.2 million votes, representing 54.2 per cent of valid votes cast, beating Raila who had 6.8 million votes.
In the October 26 poll, Kenyatta won with 98% of the vote translating to 7.5 million votes with a 38% turn out as the opposition gave it a wide berth.