Kenya's Supreme Court on Friday
annulled the result of recent presidential elections, saying the
electoral board committed "irregularities and illegalities."
"A declaration is hereby issued
that the presidential election held on August 8, was not conducted in
accordance to the constitution and applicable law, rendering the
results invalid, null and void," said Judge David Maraga,
announcing the verdict of four out of the court's six judges.
From the court of the
people to the courts of law
The electoral board "failed,
neglected or refused to conduct the elections in accordance with the
constitution," Maraga added. Two of the court's judges dissented
with the verdict, saying the will of the people should not be
nullified due to challenges that arose during the electoral process.
New elections must take place within 60
days, according to the ruling.
Contested result
The electoral commission had pronounced
President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner of the election with
54.3 percent of the vote.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga,
Kenyatta's challenger during the presidential election, had rejected
the initial result in the wake of the vote, prompting violent
protests that left at least 16 people dead and dozens more injured.
The Supreme Court's ruling marks the
first time a presidential result has been overturned in Kenya.
Tensions have risen after the general
election, prompting fears of election-related violence in the wake of
the Supreme Court's ruling. Both Kenyatta and Odinga have been dogged
before by political violence that erupted after the 2007 polls and
left 1,100 people dead.
'Against the will of the people'
President Kenyatta at first indicated
that he respected the ruling even if he disagreed with it, saying it
went "against the will of the people."
"The court has made its decision.
We respect it. We don't agree with it," said Kenyatta in a
televised speech. "That is the nature of democracy."
In later off-the-cuff comments,
however, he called Maraga and his fellow judges "crooks,"
and told supporters he was ready to campaign again.
Kenyatta has said he will campaign
again on the same platform
'Historic day'
Predictably, Odinga hailed the court's
announcement.
"This is a historic day for the
people of Kenya and by extension for the people of the continent of
Africa," he said. "We are ready for elections but we don't
have confidence" in the electoral commission, he added.
The opposition leader called for the
electoral board to be disbanded and its officials prosecuted. The
commission later said it would shuffle some staff and ensure any
members who violated the law will be brought to justice.
Odinga and his National Super Alliance,
a coalition of opposition groups, were given access to the electoral
commission's electronic server to verify the result of the election.
Supervised by independent technology
experts, Odinga claimed to have discovered that the electoral
commission's computers were manipulated to hand Kenyatta the victory.
'Tainted' officials
Musalia Mudavadi, another leading
figure in the National Super Alliance, also hailed the court's
decision in an interview with DW.
Like Odinga, he called for the
prosecution of some electoral officials, calling them "tainted."
Mudavadi also told DW that the
electoral board "had succeeded in hoodwinking international
observers," adding that "the whole issue of observers need
to be looked at afresh because they are usually hoodwinked to rubber
stamp illegal activities."
*DW News
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