Kenya Supreme Court on Monday upheld the election of William in the August 9 presidential election. With the court ruling, weeks of political uncertainty has ended, even as Raila Odinga’s hope is dashed.
BASIC FACTS
- The Supreme court in Kenya this Monday confirmed the election of William Ruto as president.
- William Ruto was announced winner of the August 9th election.
- Raila Odinga challenged the election of William Ruto, but promised to abide by the judgement of the Supreme Court.
WHAT WE KNOW
The Supreme court in Kenya this Monday ended weeks of speculation and uncertainty, as the election of William Ruto was confirmed by the court in a unanimous decision.
The Kenyan Supreme court, dismissed all the nine counts brought before it by Raila Odinga. The Court ruled that the irregularities in the election were not enough to affect the outcome of the election.
With this ruling, incumbent deputy president, William Ruto will be sworn in on the 13th of September, even as Raila Odinga had earlier promised to accept the outcome of the ruling.
NOTABLE QUOTE
In the ruling, Chief Justice Martha Koome said, “This is a unanimous decision. The petitions are hereby dismissed, as a consequence we declare the first respondent (Ruto) as president-elect,”
“The… irregularities were not of such magnitude as to affect the final results of the presidential election,”
COMMENTARY
Recall that Kenya had her presidential election last August. In the keenly contested election, the Kenyan electoral body announced incumbent deputy president William Ruto as winner.
Recall that this is not the first time Raila Odinga will be contesting to lead Kenya. In 2008, Raila Odinga and his orange party was thought to have won the presidential election held on December 27.
The above position was confirmed by international observers who felt the election was manipulated by the government of Mwai Kibaki. The crisis after that election was almost leading Kenya to warpath before a truce was brokered by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Kofi Annan effort saved the day and led to a coalition government with then incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.
This time around, the opposition Raila Odinga did not seem to have won the election, and was never declared by the Kenya electoral umpire. This is notwithstanding the refusal of some members of the commission to sign the final declaration and result.
However, Raila Odinga made a pledge to be civil and follow the rule of law, which has led to avoidance of violence after the election.
It is great and highly condemnable that the court has decided this election rather than the East African country going up in arms.
However, democracy in Africa will be better served if the people decide elections. Clariform Newsdesk looks forward to free, fair and acceptable elections becoming the norm in Africa.
