Kenya general election 2017
A Kenyan opposition stronghold celebrates the decision
Kenya’s Supreme Court has annulled the result of last month’s presidential election, citing irregularities, and ordered a new one within 60 days.
The election commission had declared incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta the winner by a margin of 1.4 million votes.
Raila Odinga, Mr Kenyatta’s opponent, said the commission was “rotten” and demanded resignations and prosecutions.
President Kenyatta said he would respect the court’s decision but also branded the judges “crooks”.
Other elections in Africa have been annulled or cancelled but this appears to be the first time on the continent that an opposition court challenge against a presidential poll result has been successful.
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Chief Justice David Maraga said the 8 August election had not been “conducted in accordance with the constitution” and declared it “invalid, null and void”.
He said the verdict was backed by four of the six Supreme Court judges.
The announcement drew cheers from opposition supporters both inside and outside the courtroom.
The court ruling did not attribute any blame to President Kenyatta’s party or campaign.
What did the judges say was wrong?
Justice Maraga said the election commission had failed “to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution”.
Justice Maraga declares the election “invalid, null and void”
He said the commission had committed irregularities “in the transmission of results”, adding that the court would provide details in a full judgment within 21 days.
Dissenting judges said that the Nasa opposition alliance – which had petitioned the Supreme Court – failed to prove claims that the polls had been rigged.
The election sparked days of sporadic protests, in which at least 28 people were killed. The vote had raised fears of major political violence – as was the case after a disputed poll in 2007.
How have the two political sides reacted?
Mr Odinga, 72, said the ruling marked “a historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension for the people of the continent of Africa”.
He said: “It is now clear that the entire [electoral commission] is rotten.
“It is clear that the real election results were never shared with Kenyans. Someone must take responsibility.”
AFP
Raila Odinga (C) reacts with delight in the courtroom
Mr Odinga added: “We won the elections and we are going to win them again.”
President Kenyatta, in a televised address, said that it was “important to respect the rule of law even if you disagree with the Supreme Court ruling”.
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He called for calm, saying: “Your neighbour will still be your neighbour, regardless of what has happened… My primary message today to every single Kenyan is peace. Let us be people of peace.”
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Uhuru Kenyatta, in power since 2013, won a second term at last month’s poll, which has now been declared invalid
Mr Kenyatta, 55, added: “We are ready to go back again to the people with the same agenda that we delivered to the people.”
The president was more combative later at a rally of supporters in a market in Nairobi.
He referred to Justice Maraga and his fellow judges as wakora (crooks in Swahili), saying they had “decided to cancel the election”. He warned the chief justice that as the poll had been annulled he was now the president again, not president-elect.
“Do you understand me? Maraga should know that he is now dealing with the serving president,” Mr Kenyatta said.
“We are keeping a close eye on them. But let us deal with the election first. We are not afraid.”
And the electoral commission?
Chairman Wafula Chebukati noted the ruling and said there would be “changes to personnel” ahead of the new election.
He invited the director of public prosecutions “to prosecute any of our staff that may have been involved in violations”.
But he ruled out resigning, saying he had not been accused of wrongdoing.
What have the international monitors said?
After the election, international monitors from the EU, the African Union and the US had said there was no major fraud on polling day and urged Mr Odinga to concede.
On Friday, Marietje Schaake, the head of the EU Observer Mission, said the court ruling represented “a historic day for Kenya and we have always said that people who feel aggrieved should seek the path of the courts”.
She said the monitors had at the time pointed to irregularities and encouraged the Kenyan authorities to deal with them.
Ms Schaake said the monitors were awaiting the full details of the ruling.
A huge victory for Odinga
Dickens Olewe, BBC News
AFP
Raila Odinga will feel vindicated against accusations that he was just being a bad loser in challenging President Kenyatta’s win.
However, this historic decision is a massive indictment of the electoral commission. It is therefore no surprise that the opposition Nasa coalition is now calling for a new team to manage the next elections.
This is also a setback for the international, and some local, election observers, who profusely praised the election as free, fair and credible.
People will be watching for the reaction of former US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was the head of the mission for US NGO, the Carter Centre, whose positive assessment of the election was used in court.
Regardless of the winners and losers following the ruling, this is a proud moment for Kenya. The litigation and debate on the merits of the election was done at the Supreme Court and not on the streets.
Chief Justice Maraga said it best in his opening statement: “The greatness of a nation lies in its fidelity to the constitution and the strict adherence to the rule of law.”
SOURCE – BBC
Kenyan supreme court annuls Uhuru Kenyatta election victory
Six-judge bench rules 4-2 in favour of petition filed by rival candidate Raila Odinga and orders new vote within 60 days
Kenyan opposition supporters celebrate as election result declared invalid
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Friday 1 September 2017 17.39 BST
Kenya’s supreme court has declared Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in the presidential election last month invalid and ordered a new vote to be held within 60 days.
The decision to nullify the result, a first in Kenya, sets up a new race for the presidency between Kenyatta and the veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga. Analysts said it marked a watershed in the east African nation and set a unique precedent for the continent.
Kenyatta accepted the court decision on Friday afternoon, calling for “peace, peace, peace” in a televised address.
The six-judge bench ruled 4-2 in favour of a petition filed by Odinga, who claimed the electronic voting results were hacked and manipulated in favour of the incumbent. Kenyatta was declared the election winner with 54% of the vote.
The judges said: “[The election commission] failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution.” They did not place blame on Kenyatta or his party.
Kenyatta said he regretted that “six people have decided they will go against the will of the people” but he would not dispute the judgment. “The court has made its decision. We respect it. We don’t agree with it. And again, I say peace … peace, peace, peace. That is the nature of democracy.”
The judgment prompted scenes of jubilation among opposition supporters across Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. In the narrow streets of Kibera, an overcrowded shantytown that has long been a stronghold of Odinga and his National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition, crowds of people blew whistles, shouted, wept and sang.
Supporters of Odinga outside the supreme court. Photograph: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images
The decision surprised many in Kenya, where courts have long been subservient to the president. “In the whole world, all eyes were on this supreme court and the judge did the right thing,” said 36-year-old Frederick Oyieng, a nightwatchman.
Donna Abongo, 39, an accountancy student, said: “It was a surprise because the trend in justice in Kenya is not good, but this time justice has been done.”
Residents in the western city of Kisumu, where Odinga has strong backing, cheered and motorcycle drivers hooted their horns.
Odinga said the court had set an “exceptional example for all of Africa”. “Our judiciary now knows they have the power,” he said. “We thank the supreme court for standing up for the truth.”
Some observers worried that the decision could lead to political chaos. Kenya, east Africa’s biggest economy, has a history of disputed elections and political violence.
But others welcomed a demonstration of the strength of local institutions. “It is a watershed judgment by a court. There is no precedent anywhere in Africa. There is nothing like it,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa programme at Chatham House, in London. “It’s good news for Kenya. Where you have strengthening institutions you get a better result.”
The Kenyan heads of mission from two dozen countries, including the UK and US, issued a joint statement saying the court’s decision “demonstrated Kenya’s resilient democracy and commitment to rule of law”.
Odinga’s supporters celebrate in Kibera. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
The hearing followed a petition filed by Odinga after his defeat last month. Opposition officials repeatedly described the results as a fraud and claimed that Odinga was the legitimate winner.
Odinga has contested, and lost, the last three elections. His claims of vote rigging in the 2007 elections prompted rioting and retaliation by security forces, tipping the country into its worst crisis for decades. About 1,200 people were killed in the ethnic violence that followed.
In 2013, Odinga said the election was rigged and took his case to the supreme court, but lost.
This time his team focused on proving that the process for tallying and transmitting results was flawed, rather than proving how much of the vote was rigged. Only days after the election on 8 August, Odinga, 72, vowed to remove the government of Kenyatta.
Election observers and western officials had called on Odinga to accept defeat, and said they had found no evidence of “centralised manipulation”.
The court said the electoral commission committed “illegalities and irregularities” in the election. The commission chairman urged the court to quickly release its full ruling with the details. That ruling is expected within 21 days.
Odinga was fiercely critical of the electoral commission. “There are more fundamental decisions to made in the days ahead, including who will conduct the next elections,” he said. “It is now clear that the entire IEBC [electoral commission] is rotten.
“It is clear that the real election results were never shared with Kenyans. Someone must take responsibility.”
Odinga waves to supporters as he leaves the supreme court. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
Human rights groups have said police killed at least 28 people in unrest that followed the original vote, and Kenya is braced for further protests over the weekend. Police were deployed to sensitive areas of Nairobi
Concerns were raised before the election when the official who oversaw the electronic voting system was found tortured and killed days before the vote. The electoral commission has said there was a failed attempt to hack the system as votes were being counted and compiled.
Observers saw last month’s election as the final act of a dynastic rivalry between the families of Kenyatta, 55, and Odinga that has lasted more than half a century. The candidates’ fathers, Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Odinga, had been allies in the struggle for independence from Britain but later became bitter rivals.
Kenyatta is from the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest ethnic community, and Odinga from the Luo, which has long felt marginalised. Both men built coalitions with other influential communities in a country where voting still takes place largely along ethnic lines.
Many voters in the west of Kenya, Odinga’s stronghold, and along the coast, where there is also traditionally large support for the opposition, feel neglected by the central government and shut out of power.
Source – The Guardian