NAIROBI, Kenya
The Supreme Court Monday afternoon upheld the election of William Ruto as Kenya’s fifth president, summing up the meteoric rise of a man who defied his boss and the sitting administration to be the country’s youngest Head of State.
The Chief Justice Martha Koome-led Bench unanimously threw out a petition by
Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition candidate Raila Odinga, who argued the declaration of Ruto was null and void.
She ruled; "This is a
unanimous decision of the court and we make the following orders; The
presidential election petition number E005 of 2022 as consolidated with
presidential election petition numbers E001, 2, 3,4,7 and 8 of 2022 are hereby
dismissed."
"As a consequence, we
declare the election of the first respondent as President-elect to be valid
under Article 143 of the Constitution. This being a matter cutting across
the public interest, we order that each party bear their own cost. It is so
ordered."
The Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati, on August 15, 2022,
declared William Ruto the winner after garnering 7,176,141 votes, representing
50.49 per cent of the total votes cast and he achieved the minimum number of 39
counties at 25%.
His main rival Raila Odinga of
the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party got 6,942,930 votes representing
48 per cent of the votes cast.
While delivering the abridged
version of the judgement, Chief Justice Martha Koome said the petitioners
failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that there was electoral malfeasance to
warrant annulment.
"It is our finding that
the declared President-Elect attained 50% +1 of all the votes cast in
accordance with article 138.4 of the constitution," she ruled.
The apex court also dismissed
all of the nine petitions that had been presented before it to show the need to
annul the election of President-Elect Ruto.
According to the Constitution,
President-Elect Ruto is set to be sworn in next week Tuesday.
“The President-elect shall be
sworn in on the first Tuesday following the fourteenth day after the date of
the declaration of the result of the presidential election if no petition has
been filed under Article 140; or The seventh day following the date on which
the court renders a decision declaring the election to be valid, if any
petition has been filed under Article 140.”
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