Uhuru's poll win upheld as Raila accepts Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the fourth president of Kenya dismissing petitions of his closest challenger Raila Odinga and a civil society group.

The Judges in a decision read by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga unanimously agreed that Mr Kenyatta and his deputy-elect William Ruto were validly elected in the elections held on March 4th.

Mr Kenyatta, of the Jubilee Coalition, was declared winner on March 9 after garnering 6,173,433 votes against Mr Odinga’s 5,340,546, but Cord disputed the results, alleging widespread electoral irregularities.

The other case was filed by African Centre for Open Governance (Africog) challenging the election process.

“As to whether the 3rd and 4th respondents were validly elected and declared as president- elect and deputy president-elect of the Republic of Kenya respectively, by the second respondent in the presidential elections held on the 4th March 2013; it is the decision of the court that the 3rd and 4th respondents were validly elected,” ruled the Judges.

The Judges said the duo was elected in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution.

On the petition challenging the validity of the rejected votes, the court found that the rejected votes should not have been included in calculating the final tallies in favour of each presidential candidate. However, the bench declined to direct the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for computations saying that it had no jurisdictions to give such relief.

The full judgement setting out the reasons for their decision will be delivered in two weeks.

The decision clears way for the swearing in of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto slated for April 9.

Raila Odinga in an address to the nation accepted the decision of the Supreme Court and wished Mr Kenyatta and his team well as they take over the leadership of the country.

“I pledge to abide by the Supreme Court ruling,” said Mr Odinga adding that he does not regret moving to the court to challenge the elections and that shows his belief in constitutionalism.