Kenya's Supreme Court upholds Kenyatta's re-election

Kenya's Supreme Court judges preside before delivering a ruling on cases that seek to nullify the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta last month in Kenya's Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya Nov 20, 2017.[Photo/Agencies]

  NAIROBI -- Kenya's Supreme Court on Monday upheld President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election in the repeat presidential poll last month, paving the way for his swearing in next week.

The court's six judges determined that the two petitions against Kenyatta's re-election lack merit and therefore were dismissed, saying Kenyatta was validly elected.

The repeat presidential vote was held on Oct. 26 under the order of apex court which nullified the Aug. 8 election result over irregularities and illegalities.

Monday's ruling enables Kenyatta to be sworn in on Nov. 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 percent of valid votes.

Some 7.62 million Kenyans out of 19.61 million Kenyans cast their votes during the repeat exercise, representing 38.82 percent turnout.

The petitioners had argued that the repeat poll is 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 Oct. 26 repeat election did not meet the threshold set by the Constitution.

The petitioners had asked the Supreme Court judges to annul the election on grounds that nominations were not done prior to the elections.

However, Kenyatta defended his re-election, arguing that there was no need for the electoral commission to conduct fresh nominations after the nullification of the Aug. 8 presidential election.