Kenyan Supreme Court Upholds Election of William Ruto As President-elect

 

William Ruto's victory in the August 9, 2022, presidential election has been upheld.

 

The Supreme Court in Kenya upheld the election on Monday, bringing an end to the controversy it generated since last month.

 

The verdict by the apex court has delivered a serious blow to the hopes of the challenger and the runner-up in the tight election, Raila Odinga, who had alleged electoral fraud, to overturn the results.

 

While delivering her judgement, the Chief Justice of Kenya, Martha Koome, in an unanimous decision of the court, stuck out Odinga’s suit and upheld the election of Ruto as president-elect of Kenya.

 

Koome said, “This is a unanimous decision. The petitions are hereby dismissed, as a consequence we declare the first respondent (Ruto) as president-elect.’’

 

The court dismissed all 9 issues at the heart of the challenge to the results, which had delivered victory to Ruto by a margin of less than two percentage points.

 

The Chief Justice declared, “The… irregularities were not of such magnitude as to affect the final results of the presidential election.’’

With the ruling of the court, William Ruto, is set to take office on September 13, 2022.