Kenya's Supreme Court has nullified the
results of the country's August presidential election, and called for a new
vote within 60 days. To say Kenyan court is now dishing out democratic lessons
to other African countries is no more a comparison of dwarfs as to which one is
taller than the other.
The court took many aback when it ruled
in support of the petition of presidential challenger Raila Odinga and his Nasa
Party.
Odinga argued that electronic votes were
hacked and manipulated to favor incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta, who won the election
with 54 percent of the vote. The court blamed the Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission for the irregularities.
Odinga rejected the results of the Aug.
8 election before a winner was announced, saying the IEBC imposed
"computer-generated leaders" on the country.
Odinga, speaking after the ruling,
called it "a very historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension
the people of Africa.
"For the first time in the history
of African democratization, a ruling has been made by a court nullifying
irregular election of a president. This is a precedent-setting ruling," he
said.
In court, Odinga's lawyers said the
irregularities affected five million votes.
The two judges voting in opposition to
the decision said the elections were free, fair, credible and watched by
international observers. One, Justice Njoki Ndung'u, said that every election
faces challenges and any seen in Kenya's presidential election were not
deliberate or conducted in bad faith.
The decision was met with joy in the
streets of the capital, Nairobi, where armed police barricaded streets leading
to the Supreme Court on Friday.
Kenya has seen widespread unrest since
the election, and human rights groups said at least 24 people had died at the
hands of police since the vote, ITV News reported.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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