Kenya Supreme Court upholds election rerun, sparking protests, celebrations

NAIROBI — Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld the reelection of President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, paving the way for his inauguration even as the opposition remains defiant.

Chief Justice Davi Maraga threw out the cases by three petitioners that sought to invalidate the results of the Oct. 26 election rerun, saying they were without merit.

The decision may bring an end to months of instability after the original Aug. 8 presidential election was invalidated, but opposition protests immediately broke out in this deeply divided country.

The court shocked Kenya and much of the continent on Sept. 1 when it invalidated Kenyatta’s win on the grounds of irregularities, forcing the election to be re-held.

Kenyatta’s main rival, Raila Odinga, however, pulled out of the rerun at the last minute saying the new elections would be flawed as well since the commission overseeing the contest had not been reformed.

In his latest statement, hedismissed the court decision, saying it was made under coercion and insisting that the government and the election were still illegitimate.

“It was a decision taken under duress. We do not condemn the court, we sympathize with it,” said the statement.

In the wake of the verdict, celebrations immediately broke out outside the court where supporters of Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party had gathered, decked out in the party colors and waving Kenyan flags.

There were celebrations in other party strongholds around the city, as well.

“It is time to move forward — he is the best leader compared to Odinga that can lead us into prosperity,” said Josphat Ngumi in Nairobi’s city center. “Leaders should now work on healing the ethnic divide that they have created to access their various political mileage.”

The months between the elections and the court decisions have seen repeated demonstrations by Odinga’s supporters and following the court decision, there were sporadic outbursts in opposition strongholds like the city of Kisumu in the west.

The roughly even division between Kenyatta and Odinga supporters is based largely on ethnic lines, between the Kenyatta’s Kikuyu tribe and Odinga’s Luo, raising the fears of ethnic clashes.

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