A former lawmaker filed a petition at Kenya’s Supreme Court yesterday challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in last month’s presidential election in a last minute move that opens the door to legal scrutiny of the vote.
Harun Mwau filed the petition hours before yesterday’s deadline set by the constitution expired. Earlier in the day, a coalition of civil society groups said they were being targeted by the government in an effort to head off potential legal cases.
The Supreme Court has until Nov. 14 to rule on election petitions. If it upholds the result, Kenyatta will be sworn in on Nov. 28. Kenyatta came to power in 2013 and won a second and final term in August, defeating opposition leader Raila Odinga by 1.4 million votes.
The Supreme Court nullified the vote citing procedural irregularities and ordered a second election. Odinga did not contest the repeat vote on Oct. 26 saying it would be unfair because the election commission had failed to implement reforms. Kenyatta won with 98 percent of the vote, though opposition supporters staged a boycott and prevented polls from opening in the west of the country.
Kenya is a regional hub for trade, diplomacy and security and its prolonged election season has disrupted its economy. Rights groups said yesterday the government was trying to prevent them from lodging cases challenging the Oct. 26 result.
The government’s NGO Board, which monitors civil society organizations, summoned three groups for an audit yesterday, they said. “It is not a coincidence that the NGO Board has decided to come after these organizations. All three have been instrumental in calling for free, fair, and credible elections,” said a statement from Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu, a coalition of civil society groups that monitored the election. The name means My Vote My Voice in Kiswahili.