African first as Kenyan court overturns election victory
KENYA’S president, Uhuru Kenyatta, denounced the country’s supreme court judges as “crooks in the pay of whites” yesterday after it struck a stunning blow for judicial independence in Africa by nullifying his re-election.
Ruling that Mr Kenyatta’s victory in the Aug 8 vote was marred by “irregularities and illegalities”, the court ordered a fresh vote to be held within 60 days, the first time judges have ever overturned an incumbent president’s victory in an African election.
Robed in red and black, the six judges on the bench upheld a petition by Mr Kenyatta’s challenger, Raila Odinga, whose claim that systematic fraud had denied him victory was ridiculed by Western observers, who portrayed him as a sore loser.
Marietje Schaake, an MEP leading the EU’S observer mission, had said: “Candidates and their supporters must accept that not winning is a natural part of a democratic competition.” He added that there were “no signs of centralised or localised manipulation”, which appeared to be contradicted by the supreme court ruling.
The loser of four elections, all of them tarnished by allegations of impropriety, Mr Odinga was in court to savour his moment of triumph, allowing himself a smile as the chief justice, David Maraga, delivered his momentous ruling.
“The presidential election ... was not conducted in accordance with the constitution and applicable law, rendering the results invalid, null and void,” Mr Maraga told the courtroom, as he read out the four-to-two majority ruling.
Outside the building, as in slums across the capital Nairobi and in Mr Odinga’s strongholds in western Kenya, the crowds erupted in disbelieving joy.
Three weeks ago, many of the same people had run for their lives as police used live fire to crush protests triggered by the electoral commission’s official declaration of Mr Kenyatta’s victory. At least 28 people were killed by the police, including a six-month old baby beaten into a coma from which she never recovered and a teenager hauled out from under his bed and bludgeoned to death in front of his parents.
But yesterday the police seemed bewildered and unsure of themselves, briefly advancing on jubilant opposition supporters, chanting and waving branches on the streets outside the court, before retreating again and eventually disappearing altogether.
“We expected the worst and have been given the best,” said Japheth Onyango, a mechanic.
“People are just so, so happy,” added Dorothy Mwangale, a cleaner, beaming uncontrollably, tears in her eyes.
The mood was in stark contrast to the sullen silence of the president’s supporters, who had also gathered publicly to celebrate what they believed would be confirmation of his victory. The disbelief was also etched on the president’s face.
Although he agreed to respect the ruling, Mr Kenyatta also upbraided the court saying: “Six people decided to go
‘The election was not conducted in accordance with the constitution and applicable law’
against the will of the people”.
Later, addressing supporters in Nairobi’s Burma Market, the president’s bitterness became starker as he claimed his victory had been taken away from him by the chief justice “and his crooks”. “This story of theirs is being paid by whites and other trash,” he said. The court absolved the president of any involvement in any electoral fraud, laying the blame on the electoral commission for the opaque manner in which it conducted the count.
Although a detailed ruling is yet to be released, it is likely that the deciding factor was the failure by a quarter of polling stations to submit adequate documentation for their results.
John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and leader of one observer mission, called on Mr Odinga to concede as graciously as he had done following his defeat to George W Bush in 2004.