Kenyatta’s poll victory upheld
KENYA’S Supreme Court yesterday upheld the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in last month’s repeat presidential vote, paving the way for him to be sworn in next week.
Chief Justice David Maraga said all six judges dismissed the two legal challenges to the vote. The opposition coalition Nasa insisted the government was illegitimate.
Kenyatta’s challenger, Nasa’s Raila Odinga, said the ruling “was a decision taken under duress. We had repeatedly declared before this Supreme Court ruling that we consider this government illegitimate and do not recognise it. This position has not been changed by the court ruling.”
Odinga referred to security
concerns raised by the opposition about the judges after one of their bodyguards was shot the day before the court was to deliberate on an 11th-hour request to delay last month’s election.
The chief justice said at the time police had “enhanced” security after the shooting. The court could not be reached yesterday to comment on Nasa’s allegation.
Yesterday’s ruling clears the way for Kenyatta’s swearing-in next Tuesday, but it is unlikely to end the worst political crisis in the nation in a decade. Residents
in Kisumu, where Odinga has strong backing, barricaded roads in protest at the court’s decision and police later fired shots in the air to disperse them. Odinga had called for a “National Resistance Movement” after Kenyatta’s victory last month.
Kenyatta had said he wouldn’t engage in dialogue with the opposition until “constitutional options” had been exhausted.
The prolonged election process has disrupted the economy and forced the government to cut its growth forecast.