(3 minutes read)
- The Supreme Court of Kenya began hearing the presidential poll petition by Raila Odinga who is challenging the result of the August 9 presidential election, which declared William Ruto as the winner. The seven bench judges led by Martha Koome already began the pre-trials. This follows ruling on two affidavits that were struck out
The Supreme Court of Kenya began hearing the presidential poll petition by Raila Odinga who is challenging the result of the August 9 presidential election, which declared William Ruto as the winner. The seven bench judges led by Martha Koome already began the pre-trials. This follows ruling on two affidavits that were struck out.
Tom Ojienda, Raila Odinga’s lawyer said that he would abide by the supreme court’s decision. In the previous ruling, the judges ruled out Odinga’s involvement in the chaos that happened at the national tally center at BOMAS of Kenya. When the chairperson of the electoral commission wanted to declare the president-elect, chaos erupted and Ruto’s camp held Odinga as the instigator.
The 77-year-old veteran politician, who was running for the fifth time in the presidential election and was backed by incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta and his party, lost the election by some 230,000 votes (50.49% to 48.85%). In the meantime, the winner in the election Ruto said Odinga had in the past systematically challenged the results of the presidential election and fomented national crises after losing. Ruto deposed that it was against the public interest to keep the country in a perpetual election campaign, which was already struggling with high inflation.
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The Odinga’s camp claims that 140,028 ballots were not counted. This could significantly affect the election results, where the winning candidate should get 50%+1 votes to win the election in the first round. The judges’ decision is expected on any day but before September 5.
