Kenya: Kenya's veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga, will challenge the results of this month's presidential election in the Supreme Court on Monday, according to her legal team, the latest twist in the political conflict that has gripped East Africa's powerhouse.
"Yes, we will," lawyer Paul Mwangi texted back to Reuters. The election commissioner announced that Vice President William Ruto had won the election by a narrow margin last week, but four of the seven election commissioners disagreed, claiming the results had not been tabulated transparently.
Odinga, 77, overruled the decision and claimed that due process was not followed.
"The truth will come out," he told a church congregation on Sunday. "We will start showing it widely and open tomorrow."
This is Odinga's fifth attempt for the presidency, and he has blamed rigging for the previous defeat. These disagreements led to violence in which more than 100 people died in 2017 and over 1,200 in 2007.
Ruto, 55, said the IEBC "leaned backwards to accommodate everyone." Those who refuse to accept defeat are questioning the validity of the results, Ruto told reporters after the August 15 presidential election was announced.
The Supreme Court reversed the election results in 2017 and ordered a re-run, which Odinga boycotted because he had lost faith in the Election Commission.
Odinga has the support of the political establishment this time. After falling out with Ruto after the last election, President Uhuru Kenyatta supported Odinga's candidacy.
At stake is control of East Africa's richest and most stable nation, where companies such as General Electric, Google and Uber have their regional headquarters. Kenya also provides peacekeepers to neighboring Somalia and regularly holds peace talks for other countries in the volatile East African region.
According to the Constitution of Kenya, a legal challenge to the validity of the results must be filed within seven days of their announcement, and the Supreme Court must then rule within 14 days.
If the vote is declared invalid, as was the case in 2017, a fresh election must be held within 60 days. If the result is upheld, Ruto will be sworn in a week after the verdict is delivered on Tuesday.
Kenyan Opposition leader pledges to contest presidential results in court
Deputy President William Ruto wins Kenya's presidential election
Kenya election: media results differ after 10 million ballots have been counted