On Friday, Kenya's Supreme Court decided, 4-2, that last month's presidential election had been marred by vote-count irregularities and was not "conducted in accordance with the constitution," and it ordered a new election within 60 days. The high court did not blame President Uhuru Kenyatta or his party but instead pointed at the election commission, which had declared Kenyatta the winner by 1.5 million votes, or 54 percent of ballots. Longtime opposition candidate Raila Odinga had claimed that the electronic reporting system had been hacked, and he challenged the results.
"It's a very historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension the people of Africa," Odinga said after the ruling, with his supporters celebrating in the streets. He called for the election commission to be disbanded and prosecuted. Kenyatta's lawyer called the ruling "very political" but said it must be respected. At least 28 people died in protests after the original vote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a grand turret entrance in New York and built-in glass elevator in Arizona
-
Nordstrom family, investor to take retail chain privateSpeed Read The business will be acquired by members of the family and El Puerto de Liverpool, a Mexican real estate company
-
Biden commutes most federal death sentencesSpeed Read The president downgraded the punishment of 37 of 40 prisoners on death row to life in prison without parole
-
Putin says Russia isn't weakened by Syria setbackSpeed Read Russia had been one of the key backers of Syria's ousted Assad regime
-
Georgia DA Fani Willis removed from Trump caseSpeed Read Willis had been prosecuting the election interference case against the president-elect
-
Democrats blame 'President Musk' for looming shutdownSpeed Read The House of Representatives rejected a spending package that would've funding the government into 2025
-
Trump, Musk sink spending bill, teeing up shutdownSpeed Read House Republicans abandoned the bill at the behest of the two men
-
Congress reaches spending deal to avert shutdownSpeed Read The bill would fund the government through March 14, 2025
-
Luigi Mangione charged with murder, terrorismSpeed Read Magnione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
-
Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about BidensSpeed Read Alexander Smirnov claimed that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma
-
South Korea impeaches president, eyes chargesSpeed Read Yoon Suk Yeol faces investigations on potential insurrection and abuse of power charges
