Kenya is to hold another presidential election after the previous poll was declared invalid by the country’s supreme court.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court Judges ruled by a majority of 4-2 that the win by President Uhuru Kenyatta was “null and void” as a result of irregularities committed by the election board and ordered a fresh ballot be held within 60 days.<\/p>\n
It is the first time in Kenya’s history an election result has been cancelled.<\/p>\n
The historic move comes after a petition was filed by opposition candidate Raila Odinga.<\/p>\n
He had claimed the electronic voting results were hacked into and rigged in favour of Mr Kenyatta.<\/p>\n
The Kenyan leader had won a second term on 8 August with 54% of the vote, but the court has now decided the poll was not conducted in line with the constitution.<\/p>\n
Judge David Maranga, announcing the verdict, said: “The declaration (of Kenyatta’s win) is invalid, null and void.<\/p>\n
“The first respondent (the election board) failed neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution.”<\/p>\n
Mr Odinga said: “This is a historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension for the people of the continent of Africa.”<\/p>\n
The court’s decision paves the way for a new race for the presidency between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga.<\/p>\n
Kenya’s main domestic poll monitoring organisation, ELOG, had previously said it found no evidence to suggest the election was manipulated or inaccurate.<\/p>\n
Mr Odinga has contested the last three elections and lost each time.<\/p>\n
On each occasion he has alleged the polls had been rigged.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the supreme court dismissed his petition.<\/p>\n
A number of people died last month after protests over the latest election result turned violent.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0newstalk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenya is to hold another presidential election after the previous poll was declared invalid by the country’s supreme court. The Supreme Court Judges ruled by a majority of 4-2 that the win by President Uhuru Kenyatta was “null and void” as a result of irregularities committed by the election board and ordered a fresh ballot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107,11],"tags":[592,1613],"yoast_head":"\n