Kenya’s Odinga challenges presidential poll result in supreme court

Kenya’s presidential contender Raila Odinga on Monday filed a petition to the country’s top court challenging William Ruto’s victory in this month’s election and demanding a rerun.

The move delays the transition and fuels uncertainty in east Africa’s most advanced economy.

In the petition, Mr Odinga and his running mate, former magistrate Martha Karua, asked the supreme court to order a “nullification of the declaration of results” that made Mr Ruto the winner because of “irregularities and improprieties” that ”were so substantial and significant and that they affected the result”.

This includes failure by Kenya’s electoral commission, IEBC, to tally ballots from 27 constituencies and a mismatch between the turnout and the final result, they said.

Last Monday, IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati said Mr Ruto won 50.5 per cent of the vote, while former prime minister and veteran opposition leader Mr Odinga, secured 48.8 per cent with all votes counted. This is the fifth time Mr Odinga has run for president.

A day later, Mr Odinga said that “the figures announced by Mr Chebukati are null and void and must be quashed by a court of law”. He called the results a “travesty”.

Makau Mutua, a lawyer and chair of Mr Odinga’s campaign, told the Financial Times on Monday the aim is “to declare invalid the declaration of the IEBC chair that Mr Ruto is the president-elect”.  According to the petition, Mr Odinga and Ms Karua claim the “electoral process has not been transparent, impartial, neutral, efficient, accurate and accountable”. They want a fresh election.

The IEBC, Mr Chebukati, and Mr Ruto have four days to respond to the claims through filings. “There will be court processes, we will engage in those because we are democrats and we believe in the rule of law,” Mr Ruto said last week.

The seven-judge supreme court bench has two weeks from Monday to deliver their judgment. Should the court decide in Odinga’s favour, authorities would have 60 days to hold a fresh election.

In 2017 the court nullified the result of that year’s presidential election, fought between outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Odinga, prompting a rerun which was, ultimately, boycotted by the veteran opposition leader.

This is the third time in a row  Mr Odinga (77) has challenged the result of Kenya’s presidential elections. “I think Kenyans felt that I’ve been unfairly treated,” Mr Odinga told the Financial Times ahead of the vote. “There is a need to watch the IEBC not to do any monkey business,” he added then.

Last Monday, four out of seven electoral commissioners distanced themselves from Mr Chebukati, disowning the results. Mr Odinga and Ms Karua said in the petition that the commissioners’ decision was valid, adding that Chebukati is “unfit” to hold public office. Chebukati claimed in a Wednesday statement that just before the release of results, the four breakaway commissioners were attempting to force a rerun. One of the commissioners, Juliana Cherera, said on Tuesday that the final tabulation issued by Mr Chebukati, was “mathematical absurdity that defies logic,” as it arrived at 100.01 per cent, casting “doubt on the accuracy of the source of the figures tallied.” According to her, the 0.1 per cent translates to some 142,000 votes, which would have significantly affected the final result.

According to calculations by the Financial Times with 14.2mn votes cast in the elections, a 0.01 per cent discrepancy only equates to about 1,420 votes.

“This is far from over yet,” said a senior western electoral observer in Nairobi. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022