Kenyan Supreme Court Reportedly Cancels Results of Presidential Election

Kenya’s Supreme Court canceled on Friday the results of the last month’s presidential election saw the victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta amid popular protests and resistance of the opposition figures.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The court ruled a repeat vote after canceling the election results, the Kenya Today outlet reported.

The court's move comes after Raila Odinga, the leader of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA), decided to challenge the election outcome citing a crackdown on human rights organizations, which oversaw the vote. At the time Odinga said that Kenyans "refuse to sit and watch the Jubilee [rival political party that won in the election] turn our country into Banana Republic."

Local watchdogs Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and African Center for Open Governance to the Director of Criminal Investigation (AfriCOG) were overseeing the presidential election in Kenya. According to the KNCHR, 24 people died during protests that erupted following the announcement of the election results. The NGO attributed the deaths to police using live ammunition.

Kenya held presidential election on August 8. The country’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), declared incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner with 54.27 percent of the votes, while Raila Odinga, the leader of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) received 44.7 percent. Odinga said he would challenge the results of the vote in the Supreme Court.