Kenya’s supreme court has overturned the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, citing irregularities in last month’s election.
A six-judge bench, by majority decision, on Friday found that the electoral commission failed to conduct the polls according to the Constitution and Elections Act, Daily Nation reports.
The court has thus called for a new election within 60 days.
“Elections is not an event but an process. After considering the totality of the entire evidence, we are satisfied that the elections were not conducted in accordance to the dictates of the Constitution and the applicable principles,” Chief justice David Maraga is quoted to have said.
Daily Nation says lawyers who represented President Kenyatta and the IEBC have protested the judgment and sought explanations and clarifications from the judges.
Opposition candidate Raila Odinga, who was on August 12 announced defeated by incumbent President, Uhuru Kenyatta, accused the electoral authorities of fraud, claiming that the electronic voting results were hacked into and manipulated. Uhuru had won a second term with 54 percent of the vote.
Odinga’s refusal to concede sparked fury among his supporters, many of whom took to the streets with violence.
Financial analysts said this election was the most expensive ever as Kenya’s national treasury said the preparation and execution of the election cost about 49.9 billion shillings ($480 million).
