The Kenyan Supreme Court has unanimously affirmed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election. David Maraga, the country’s chief justice, said the court dismissed two legal challenges to the vote in a unanimous decision by six judges.
The petitioners had argued, amongst other reasons, that the outcome should be voided because the election board did not seek fresh nominations after the earlier Aug. 8 poll was invalidated, and because the vote was not held in each of Kenya’s 291 voter constituencies.
The repeat election had been ordered by the Supreme Court after it nullified the results of the August presidential election.
The ruling clears the way for Kenyatta’s swearing-in on Nov. 28, but it is unlikely to end the worst political crisis in East Africa’s richest and most developed economy in a decade.
Kenyatta won with 98 per cent of the vote, though opposition supporters staged a boycott and prevented polls from opening in the west of the country.
Reuters