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Kenya's Odinga challenges presidential poll result in Supreme Court

Monday, 22 August 2022 2:27 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 22 August 2022 2:37 PM ]

Kenya's veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga filed a challenge to the results of this month's presidential election in the Supreme Court on Monday (August 22), sharpening a political clash that has gripped East Africa's powerhouse.

In the petition, Odinga asks the court to nullify the vote's outcome on several grounds, including a mismatch between the turnout figures and the result, and failure by the commission to tally ballots from 27 constituencies as required by law.

Last week the election commissioner declared Deputy President William Ruto had won the election by a slim margin, but four out of seven election commissioners dissented, saying the tallying of results had not been transparent.

The commission, its chairman and Ruto have four days to respond to Odinga's claims through court filings.

This is Odinga's fifth stab at the presidency; he blamed several previous losses on rigging. Those disputes triggered violence that claimed more than 100 lives in 2017 and more than 1,200 lives in 2007.

This time, Odinga is backed by the political establishment. President Uhuru Kenyatta endorsed Odinga's candidacy after falling out with Ruto following the last election.

At stake is control of East Africa's wealthiest and most stable nation, home to regional headquarters for firms like General Electric, Google, and Uber. Kenya also provides peacekeepers for neighboring Somalia and frequently hosts peace talks for other nations in the turbulent East Africa region.

The case will be heard by the seven-member Supreme Court and presided over by Martha Koome, Kenya's first female chief justice, who was appointed by Kenyatta last year.

The court will next conduct a status conference with all parties to define the hearing schedule and ground rules. The constitution requires judges to issue their decision within 14 days of the lawsuit being filed.

(Source: Reuters)

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