Prime Minister Raila Odinga has hired George W. Bush’s former lawyer William Burck to challenge the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the fourth President of Kenya.
The PM, who filed a court petition on Saturday in the Supreme Court, claims that the just concluded elections were so shambolic and they should be cancelled.
President –elect Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner a week ago after reaching the threshold needed to avert a run-off by a 0.07 per cent margin – 8,418 votes out of 12.4m cast, according to official results.
But lawyers and political pundits have questioned the integrity of the vote after electronic safeguards designed to prevent fraud failed. Raila in particular said “rampant illegalities” made the outcome unclear.
“The Prime Minister wants a whole new election,” Raila‘s lawyer William Burke said.
“It’s a bigger ask than a run-off but I think [a rerun] is what’s required – an inevitable result of a catastrophic failure of the election system. We think. . . that this thing was never meant to succeed.” The lawyer added.
However some observers and international accredited lawyers have said Mr Odinga’s chances of winning any fresh election would be even smaller than in the first vote given a new incumbent is declared. But Mr Odinga insists there is a larger point at stake.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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