Kenya’s Supreme Court on Friday nullified last month’s presidential elections, which the opposition claimed was riddled with irregularities, on the basis that the election was not conducted according to the Constitution and Elections Act.
The court further ordered Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct fresh polls within 60 days.
According to official figures released by the IEBC on August 11, incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta secured 54.27 percent of the ballots cast, while his rival, Raila Odinga, won 44.74 percent, in the August 8 polls.
With Kenyatta receiving more than 50 percent of the votes, the contest was not forced into the second round of voting.
However, violence broke out as opposition activists cried foul.
Shortly after the election results were announced, opposition candidate Odinga, took his complaints of fraud to seven Supreme Court judges amid fears among Kenyans that renewed violence would break out if he lost his attempt to overturn the election results.
It is the third time in a row that Odinga has cried foul, after claiming he was cheated out of rightful victories in 2007 and 2013.
The disputed 2007 election led to politically-motivated ethnic violence in which over 1,100 people were killed. In 2013, Odinga also took his grievances to court and lost.
–African News Agency (ANA)
