Kenya’s Supreme Court began on August 30 the hearings related to the petition filed by Raila Odinga against the election result of last August 9’s presidential election.
The court’s seven judges, headed by Martha Koome, are expected to rule by September 5, and if they order the annulment of the election, they must then proceed to call new elections within the 60-day period (https://www.ft.com/content/5ebea0d3-fa44-4411-a729-426cd258675e).
Odinga’s petition against winner William Ruto is articulated in a 72-page document, where he disputes the counting of at least 140,000 ballots, capable of affecting the election result in light of a gap of only 230,000 votes (https://www.africanews.com/2022/08/30/kenyas-supreme-court-begins-hearing-presidential-poll-petition/).
The winner of the election, on the other hand, criticized Odinga’s choice to appeal to the Supreme Court, describing it as an attempt to perpetuate the campaign climate, to the detriment of the country, and accusing him of having systematically challenged the election results in previous elections as well, fueling the ensuing climate of violence (https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/anxiety-east-africa-kenya-supreme-court-settles-election-dispute-3936132).
According to Odinga, on the contrary, the last election was a “civilian coup,” adding how Kenya’s intelligence forces also allegedly found intrusions into the Independent Electoral Commission’s computer system (https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/mondo/africa/2022/08/29/kenya-odinga-elezioni-un-colpo-di-stato-civile_4d1241f4-01a7-4bdc-a6a9-c3ee748e98a2.html).
