Kenyans Will Vote Again After the Supreme Court Ruled to Annul Election Results

The Supreme Court has annulled the results of Kenya's election, and a new one is set to be held within the next 60 days.

Damola Durosomo
September 01, 2017

NAIROBI—The Kenyan Supreme Court has moved to annul last month's elections in which incumbent president, Uhuru Kenyatta, was declared the winner with a margin of 1.4 million votes by the electoral commission.

Opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, contested the result soon after, claiming that the election had been rigged, and demanding a new vote.

His complaints were heard earlier today, as members of the supreme court stated that the election process was, indeed, not in-line with the standards described out in the constitution. Justice Maraga, cited "irregularities in the transmission of results" as the primary reasoning for the court's decision to declare it "invalid, null and void." A re-run is set to occur within the next 60 days.

According to BBC Africa, the supreme court's ruling is considered the first time that a challenge from an opposition court to a presidential ruling has been successful.

Odinga called the ruling "a historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension for the people of the continent of Africa," and lambasted the actions of the electoral commission, stating he had "no faith at all in the electoral commission as currently constituted."

While Kenyatta expressed some disappointment with the nullification, he vowed to respect the court's ruling and urged his supporters to remain respectful towards the law and one another.

"Your neighbour will still be your neighbour, regardless of what has happened. My primary message today to every single Kenyan is peace. Let us be people of peace," he said in a speech.

"We are ready to go back again to the people with the same agenda that we delivered to the people."

Though many in the international sphere we're looking to Kenya to be a model for free and fair elections on the continent, the August 8 election was riddled with controversy from the start, mostly stemming from instances of election fraud and failed voting systems during prior elections, and the mysterious death of IT manager Chris Msando, just days before he was to unveil a new voting system.

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