“A coup in Kenya has just been done by the four people in the Supreme Court,” Kenyatta said in a live, televised speech delivered mostly in Kiswahili. “(The court is saying) ‘numbers don’t matter, it is processes that matter.‘”
The court’s decision on Sept. 1 was the first time a judicial body has cancelled the election of an African president and the ruling sent shockwaves through the country and beyond.
The court ordered a re-run within 60 days between Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had rejected the result of the Aug. 8 vote and challenged it in court. The election board had declared Kenyatta the winner by 1.4 million votes.
The re-run is tentatively set for Oct. 17 in a vote being watched for any sign of instability. Kenya, a Western ally, has East Africa’s richest economy and is hub for diplomacy, security and trade in a region often battered by conflict.
The date for the re-run now looks unlikely since election officials lack time to prepare.
The court’s detailed judgment given on Wednesday hinged on the failure of the election board to check electronic tallies, which are vulnerable to typos, against paper forms intended as a fail-safe backup before announcing results. Judges did not say they found evidence of rigging.
Kenyatta said he would respect the court’s decision but said it subverted the will of the people.
“We have reversed everything in this country by the decision of a few people. I don’t know how history will judge these gentlemen,” he said. “The citizen has been told he does not have a voice … If that is not dictatorship, then I don’t know what to say.”
Kenya's annulled vote rescheduled to October 26
Kenya’s elections body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced a new date for the presidential poll rerun ordered by the Supreme Court.
A statement issued on by IEBC chairman, Wafula Chebukati, said the new date for the elections is October 26 later this year. He added that the commission was studying the detailed ruling issued by the court on Wednesday.
“There is no doubt that the judgement impacts on the election operations and in particular technology to be deployed.
“In order to ensure that the Commission is fully prepared to deliver an election that meets the standards set out by the Supreme Court, we wish to notify the public and all stakeholders that the fresh presidential election shall now be held on Thursday, 26th October 2017,” the statement added.
The court in annulling the vote ordered that a rerun be held within 60 days – the IEBC had earlier slated October 17 for the rerun. The date was stiffly opposed by the petitioners whiles the ruling Jubilee coalition insisted that it should he held on the scheduled date.
The country’s apex court on September 1, 2017 annulled the August 8 presidential election with the majority of justices holding that it was not held with due compliance to electoral rules.
Their ruling followed a petition filed by the opposition coalition, National Super Alliance (NASA) led by former Prime Minister, Raila Amolo Odinga.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta opened parliament on Tuesday by warning against divisive and destructive politics, while opposition lawmakers boycotted the legislature and rallied to demand the resignation of election officials.
Kenya held parliamentary, presidential and local elections on Aug. 8, but the Supreme Court nullified the presidential results three weeks later, citing irregularities in the tallying process. New elections are scheduled for Oct. 17.
While calling for unity and respect for the constitution, Kenyatta delivered a thinly veiled warning to the opposition lawmakers who had chosen to stay away from parliament.
“We shall continue to encourage vibrant democratic competition, we shall not allow destructive division.”As he spoke, opposition leaders held a rally in Kibera, the capital’s largest slum, rejecting the Oct. 17 date unless officials on the election board, whom they blame for mishandling the polls, resign.“Now we are putting it squarely to you that the Supreme Court of this country has found you incompetent,” said Kalonzo Musyoka, running mate of Kenyatta’s presidential rival Raila Odinga.
The surprise election annulment initially raised fears of short-term political turmoil in Kenya, the region’s richest nation and a staunch Western ally in a region roiled by conflict.
But it also raised hopes among frustrated opposition supporters, who believe the last three elections have been stolen from them, that the east African nation’s tarnished courts could deliver them justice.
That hope helped tamp down protests that threatened to spark the kind of violence that followed disputed 2007 elections, when around 1,200 people were killed in ethnic bloodletting.
In a separate development, a ruling party lawmaker and a former opposition senator appeared in a Nairobi court, charged with incitement to violence over speeches they had made in the past week. Both were freed on a 300,000 Kenya shilling ($3,000) bond.
A government body monitoring hate speech says that it has seen a spike since the Supreme Court ruling. More than three times as many incidents were reported in the week following the ruling than during the whole 10-week election campaign, it said.
“There is no doubt that the judgement impacts on the election operations and in particular technology to be deployed.
“In order to ensure that the Commission is fully prepared to deliver an election that meets the standards set out by the Supreme Court, we wish to notify the public and all stakeholders that the fresh presidential election shall now be held on Thursday, 26th October 2017,” the statement added.
The court in annulling the vote ordered that a rerun be held within 60 days – the IEBC had earlier slated October 17 for the rerun. The date was stiffly opposed by the petitioners whiles the ruling Jubilee coalition insisted that it should he held on the scheduled date.
The country’s apex court on September 1, 2017 annulled the August 8 presidential election with the majority of justices holding that it was not held with due compliance to electoral rules.
Their ruling followed a petition filed by the opposition coalition, National Super Alliance (NASA) led by former Prime Minister, Raila Amolo Odinga.
Kenyatta slams 'destructive division,' opposition boycott parliament opening
Kenya held parliamentary, presidential and local elections on Aug. 8, but the Supreme Court nullified the presidential results three weeks later, citing irregularities in the tallying process. New elections are scheduled for Oct. 17.
While calling for unity and respect for the constitution, Kenyatta delivered a thinly veiled warning to the opposition lawmakers who had chosen to stay away from parliament.
“My government will not tolerate anyone intent on disrupting our hard-won peace and stability. Under no circumstances must Kenyans ever allow our free competitive processes to become a threat to the peace and security of our nation,” he said, to foot-stamping and cheering from ruling party legislators.My government will not tolerate anyone intent on disrupting our hard-won peace and stability. Under no circumstances must Kenyans ever allow our free competitive processes to become a threat to the peace and security of our nation.
“We shall continue to encourage vibrant democratic competition, we shall not allow destructive division.”As he spoke, opposition leaders held a rally in Kibera, the capital’s largest slum, rejecting the Oct. 17 date unless officials on the election board, whom they blame for mishandling the polls, resign.“Now we are putting it squarely to you that the Supreme Court of this country has found you incompetent,” said Kalonzo Musyoka, running mate of Kenyatta’s presidential rival Raila Odinga.
The surprise election annulment initially raised fears of short-term political turmoil in Kenya, the region’s richest nation and a staunch Western ally in a region roiled by conflict.
But it also raised hopes among frustrated opposition supporters, who believe the last three elections have been stolen from them, that the east African nation’s tarnished courts could deliver them justice.
That hope helped tamp down protests that threatened to spark the kind of violence that followed disputed 2007 elections, when around 1,200 people were killed in ethnic bloodletting.
In a separate development, a ruling party lawmaker and a former opposition senator appeared in a Nairobi court, charged with incitement to violence over speeches they had made in the past week. Both were freed on a 300,000 Kenya shilling ($3,000) bond.
A government body monitoring hate speech says that it has seen a spike since the Supreme Court ruling. More than three times as many incidents were reported in the week following the ruling than during the whole 10-week election campaign, it said.
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