President Uhuru Kenyatta on
Friday said he would abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court in Kenya which
nullified his reelection victory last month.
The judgment, which was delivered
by the court Friday morning, saw three of the six-man bench dismiss Mr.
Kenyatta’s victory as null and void. The judges ordered that a re-run poll be
conducted within 60 days.
“The presidential election held
on August 8 was not conducted in accordance with the constitution,” Chief
Justice, David Maraga ruled, according to Kenya’s The Nation Newspaper.
Mr. Maraga was joined in the
majority opinion by two other judges. Two judges dissented in the ruling while
the last judge was at the hospital, according to Kenyan media reports.
The ruling favoured Raila Odinga,
head of the country’s main opposition who had challenged the electoral
commission’s announcement of President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner last month.
In a nationwide broadcast which
was later uploaded on the Internet, Mr. Kenyatta said he would abide by the
judgment, “although he didn’t necessarily agree with its principles.”
“We believe in the rule of law,”
the president said, before lashing out that, “six people have decided they will
go against the will of the people.”
He rallied Kenyans to remain
peaceful while expressing confidence in his popularity and ability to emerge
victorious in the re-run.
“Your neighbour will always
remain your neighbour regardless,” he said.
Mr. Odinga said he would channel
some energy into fighting the electoral commission officials whom he castigated
as criminally biased.
“IEBC committed a criminal act
and belong to jail,” Mr. Odinga said of Wafula Chubakati, head of Kenya’s
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
But Mr. Chebukati pushed back
against allegations of unfairness, vowing to remain in office amidst calls for
his resignation.
African democracy experts deemed
Friday’s development an affirmation of Kenya’s robust judicial system, in
comparison to most countries on the continent.
“The courts in Kenya have long
been the envy of activists and pro-democracy forces throughout Africa,” said
Jeffrey Smith, Executive Director of the Vanguard Africa Movement.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision only
reinforces that perception and further bolsters the rule of law, today and
going forward, in Kenya.”
Mr. Smith, whose organisation
focuses on advancing good governance and reform across Africa, said Kenyan
leaders must take caution to avert the aftermath of a similar ruling in Cote
d’Ivoire in 2010.
A major crisis broke out in the
West African country following the annulment of the election victory of
Alassane Ouattara by the Constitutional Council, the country’s equivalent of a
supreme court.
The court then pronounced Laurent
Gbagbo, the incumbent at the time who had challenged the results, winner of the
election. It was the first time a court will annul the victory of a
presidential candidate in Africa.
But the international community,
including Ecowas, rejected the conclusion of the council and recognised the
victory of Mr. Ouattara, then leader of the opposition.
Mr. Ouattara was later
inaugurated as president. He won a reelection in 2015 with 84 per cent of the
votes.
Mr. Gbagbo was arrested in April
2011 and was transferred to the International Criminal Court where he’d been
facing charges since 2016.
He pleaded not guilty to all
charges, which include murder and rape.
“Let’s hope the same does not happen
in Kenya, and that elected leaders in particular urge calm, peace, and
deference to the law,” Mr. Smith said.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com