Kenyan Supreme Court voids presidential election, ordering new poll
By
Eddie Haywood
4 September 2017
The Kenyan Supreme Court on Friday invalidated the August 8 presidential poll which named incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta the winner over his rival, Raila Odinga. In an unprecedented decision, the court, led by Chief Justice David Maraga, overturned the poll citing that “balloting had been tainted by irregularities.” The court ordered a new poll to be conducted within 60 days.
The ruling contradicts claims made by Western election observers that no misconduct occurred during the poll, including the findings of the Carter Center’s team led by former US Secretary of State John Kerry, which certified the election to be “free and fair.”
The unprecedented ruling was the first instance in which a high court anywhere in Africa overturned a presidential election result.
The court, in declaring last month’s poll “invalid, null, and void,” stated that the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the body charged with counting the vote in Kenya, “failed, neglected, or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the Constitution.”
The six-judge panel, after absolving the Kenyatta government of any criminality or misconduct, stated the IEBC “committed irregularities and illegalities in the transmission of results,” speaking to the widely held suspicion that ballot rigging occurred in the electronic tallying of the vote.
Speaking to the media after the court decision, Odinga remarked that “it is a precedent-setting ruling” and the first time in Africa’s history “a ruling has been made by a court nullifying irregular presidential elections.”
After the court’s decision, American and European…