Nairobi - Kenya's Supreme Court on
Wednesday criticised the election board for failing to verify
official results of last month's presidential election before
announcing them but stopped short of saying there was rigging.
The court was offering a detailed ruling as to why it
annulled the August 8 election and ordered a fresh presidential
vote within 60 days. The September 1 decision was the first of its
kind in Africa.
Election board officials had said incumbent President Uhuru
Kenyatta won the contest by 1.4 million votes. Opposition leader
Raila Odinga rejected that result and challenged it in the
Supreme Court. He has also said the previous two elections were
stolen from him.
Kenya has the region's richest economy and is a key Western
ally in a region often shaken by violence.
Its status as a diplomatic, trade and security hub for East
Africa means the court's ruling and the fresh election currently
scheduled for October 17 are being closely watched for any sign of
instability or violence.
On Monday, the French technology company supporting the
election said it would be nearly impossible to be ready for that
date.
The court on September 1 identified some procedural problems in
a brief ruling but the key finding against the election board on
Wednesday was that officials had announced results before being
able to verify them.
Kenya used two parallel systems: a quick electronic tally
vulnerable to typos and a slower paper system designed as a
verifiable, definitive back-up. The official results were based
on the electronic tally before the paper results were fully
collated, the judges said.
The system was designed that way after a disputed 2007
presidential vote sparked violence that killed around 1,200
people and displaced around 600,000 more.
"If elections are not seen to be free and fair they can
trigger instability. We do not need to look far for examples,"
said Chief Justice David Maraga.
SIMPLE TEST
The board overseeing the 2017 vote did not have all the
tally forms when they announced results, and some forms lacked
security features like water marks, signatures or serial
numbers, calling their authenticity into question, the court
said.
"The election did not meet the simple test," said Maraga.
"We are unable to validate the result."
Judge Philomena Mwilu said the forms should have been
quickly available for inspection, noting officials said
thousands of forms from polling stations were still unavailable
four days after the official results were announced.
"The (board) cannot therefore be said to have verified the
results," she said. "It is an inexcusable contravention ... of
the election act."
She also censured the board's refusal to comply with court
orders to open its computer servers, saying it meant that
opposition claims of hacking or manipulation could be true.
"Noncompliance or failure by the board to do as ordered must
be held against it," she said.
But although the tallying process was questioned, voter
registration, identification and voting all appeared to be
"conducted in accordance with the law," she said.
Opposition claims against Kenyatta were largely dismissed.
Maraga said the opposition had failed to show evidence Kenyatta
had campaigned using state resources or undue influence.
As judges spoke, police also used tear gas to disperse
groups of rival political supporters holding demonstrations
outside the Supreme Court.
The election re-run has divided Kenya, with many opposition
supporters celebrating it and the president and some members of
the ruling party criticising it harshly.
On Tuesday evening, Deputy President William Ruto tweeted:
"So has CJ taken sides? Listening to the tone, language & drift
of (Chief Justice David) Maraga's lecture the only phrase
missing is NASA HAO! TIBIN! & TIALALA!" -- phrases that are a
rallying call for the opposition coalition.
Earlier, the chief justice told a news conference that
judges were getting threats and the police were not offering
adequate protection, an allegation that the chief of police
denied.