Fred Ngatia and Ahmednasir Abdullahi represented President Kenyatta/MOSES MUOKI
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 1 – One of the lawyers representing President Uhuru Kenyatta in the petition challenging his election, Ahmednasir Abdullahi says they are not happy with the ruling but will abide by it.
Speaking after the ruling on Friday Abdullahi described the decision made as political saying it did not have any basis at all.
“There is no way you can dispute this election. One is that the results have been declared in the polling station. All the results in the polling stations are known. Once they are known, these other things are a matter of computation and transmission. But the court has spoken, let it go back to the people and they will express themselves again,” he stated.
Lawyer James Orengo on the other hand who was representing NASA leader Raila Odinga described it as a landmark ruling.
“We hope that this time around, they will not make the mistake of generating through a computer somebody as President of the Republic of Kenya; that it is the people of Kenya who will decide who is the President of Kenya,” he said.
The Supreme Court ordered a new presidential election within 60 days after cancelling the results of last month’s poll in a shock decision in favour of the Opposition.
President Kenyatta’s lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi as he arrived to the Supreme Court on Friday/MOSES MUOKI
Joyous celebrations erupted outside the court and in opposition strongholds after the second term victory of President Kenyatta was declared “invalid, null and void”.
Chief Justice David Maraga said a majority decision by the panel of seven judges, with two dissenting, found that Kenyatta “was not validly elected”, rendering the result “invalid, null and void”.
Maraga said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had “failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the Constitution”.
Thousands of Odinga supporters flooded the streets of Nairobi’s Kibera slum and his strongholds in the western city of Kisumu.
“This is justice for us the people of Kisumu. They (police) came to beat and shoot at us when we protested the election results, but now the truth is out,” said Jackson Oduor in Kisumu.
“For the first time we have got justice. They have stolen the election for long,” said fishmonger Lynette Akello.
The August 11 declaration of Kenyatta’s victory with 54.27 percent of the vote – with not all the tallying forms in – sparked two days of demonstrations and riots in the slums of Nairobi and Kisumu, traditional opposition strongholds.
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