Kenya president sworn in after months-long turmoil
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was on Tuesday sworn in for a second term in front of tens of thousands who gathered to celebrate what they hoped would be the end of months of election turmoil, which Kenyatta said stretched the country “almost to the breaking point”, reports AP.
During the ceremony, police fired guns and tear gas in other parts of the capital, Nairobi, as officers tried to stop the opposition from holding peaceful demonstrations to mourn dozens killed by police and militia since August. A witness said one person was shot dead.
Kenyatta said the past few months “have been a trying time.” He again criticised the Supreme Court’s nullification of his August election win, saying that “despite...being told that the processes matter more than your vote, we complied.”
But he added that the court, whose justices he once called “crooks” for their ruling, acted with independence, and he said the recent events show that “our constitution is no piece of paper.”
Institutions should not be destroyed whenever they don’t deliver the desired results, he added.
Kenya’s election drama meant months of uncertainty in East Africa’s economic hub. The court in nullifying the August result cited irregularities after a legal challenge by opposition leader Raila Odinga, and it ordered a new vote.
It was the first time in Africa that a court had nullified a presidential election, and Kenya’s events have been closely watched cross the continent by opposition parties and leaders alike.