Court confirms William Ruto
Kenya’s Supreme Court has ruled that William Ruto was properly elected president of that country, dismissing several petitions by rival Raila Odinga seeking to annul the result of the August 9 election.
But Odinga has said he finds it ‘incredible’ that the court has ruled against the nine grounds.
“The facts were on our side, unfortunately, the judges saw it otherwise,” Odinga says in a statement.
At his first shot for the presidency, the 55-year-old Ruto reaped 50.5 percent of the vote in the closely fought election.
Ruto is expected to be sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president next week.
In a devastating and scathing judgement, the eight petitions challenging the elections were all dismissed.
The court found some concerns were based on forged documents and “sensational information”, according to a unanimous decision read out by Chief Justice Martha Koome on behalf of the panel of seven judges.
Koome said no credible evidence that the electronic voting transmission system had been tampered with by “a middle man” was presented.
Ruto said after the ruling that he will govern all Kenyans.
“The administration will serve all Kenyans irrespective of who they voted for,” Ruto said.
Meanwhile, Malawian observers have described the ruling as a milestone as far as democracy in Africa is concerned.
Centre for Democracy and Elections (CDE)’s team leader in Malawi Aloisious Nthenda says the electoral case in Kenya has also highlighted the important role both international and local observers play.
“The ruling shows that democratic institutions in Africa such as courts, are now able to work and make decisions without interference suffice to say that the case has also exposed how important are reports from observers since Ruto’s lawyers used such reports to defend their client,” Nthenda said.
Eric Msikiti is a Senior Reporter/News Producer at Times Group. Though relatively young, Eric boasts years of experience in Malawi’s media industry.
