Enlarge image
Kenya's Supreme Court in the capital, Nairobi
Photo: DANIEL IRUNGU/EPA
A month after Kenya's presidential election, the country's Supreme Court sees no basis for objecting to the result.
There is no credible evidence of manipulation of the electronic voting system and the counting of votes, said court president Martha Koome in the capital Nairobi.
In mid-August, the Electoral Commission IEBC declared former Vice President William Ruto the winner of the August 9 vote.
Election loser Raila Odinga, who was only just inferior with 48.85 percent of the votes, then accused the commission of fraud and filed the lawsuit.
Election observers from the African Union and the East African Development Community (IGAD) did not find any irregularities during the vote.
After the decision, Ruto promised that he wanted to lead an inclusive government while also working with political rivals.
He welcomed the verdict "with great humility".
For Odinga, the election was the fifth unsuccessful attempt to become president.
Nor was it the first time that Odinga had sued for alleged electoral fraud.
After the announcement of his renewed defeat, riots broke out in Kisumu, the stronghold of Odinga's supporters.
Odinga was endorsed earlier this year by outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kenyatta had previously fallen out with his deputy Ruto.
Announcement of election results ended in chaos
Even the announcement of the election result was chaotic after days of counting, because the IEBC had been divided about the result: four of its seven members had refused to recognize the officially announced election result, although they had initially validated the individual results.
According to Court President Koome, this shows that the electoral commission needs far-reaching reforms.
With around 54 million inhabitants, Kenya is one of the most politically stable countries in Africa.
However, past elections have seen unrest and violence.
In 2008 more than 1000 people died due to a wave of violence following the voting.
Violent incidents also occurred in 2013 and 2017.
The main reason was tensions between different ethnic groups.
fek/dpa/AFP
