Nairobi: The Supreme Court of Kenya has upheld the results of a presidential re-run held in October declaring President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner, paving the way for his swearing-in next week. Six judges determined that two petitions against Kenyatta's re-election lacked merit and therefore were dismissed, saying the President was validly elected.
The presidential re-run was held on October 26 under the order of the apex court which nullified the initial August 8 election result over irregularities and illegalities. The ruling enables Kenyatta to be sworn in on November 28 as per the Constitution. Kenyatta won the elections with 7.48 million votes in 266 out of 291 constituencies where the election took place. This represents about 98.27 per cent of valid votes.
Some 7.62 million Kenyans out of 19.61 million Kenyans cast their votes during the re-run, representing 38.82 per cent turnout. The petitioners had argued that the repeat poll was a nullity because Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) failed to subject candidates to fresh nominations, after the poll was invalidated.
The petitioners, including former assistant minister Harun Mwau and two prominent activists, argued that the re-runs did not meet the threshold set by the Constitution. They asked the Supreme Court judges to annul the election on grounds that nominations were not done prior to the elections. The re-runs were boycotted by opposition leader Raila Odinga who had also disputed the outcome of the August polls. At least 37 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes during the August election.
