Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday lashed out at the judiciary for overturning his re-election, and refused opposition demands to replace the tarnished polls commission.
While repeating his assertion that he respected the Supreme Court’s decision, a bellicose Mr. Kenyatta set the stage for a bitter and tense re-run of the presidential election, which must take place before October 31.
Chief Justice David Maraga had on Friday declared Mr. Kenyatta’s victory in the August 8 polls “invalid, null and void”, pointing to widespread irregularities in the electronic transmission of the vote results.
“Every time we do something, a judge comes out and places an injunction. It can't go on like this ... there is a problem and we must fix it," said Mr. Kenyatta. “I think those robes they wear make them think that they are more clever than the rest of us Kenyans,” he said of the Supreme Court judges, taking specific aim at Chief Justice Maraga.
“Maraga thinks he can overturn the will of the people. We shall show you ... that the will of the people cannot be overturned by a few people.”
On Friday, he slammed the judges as “crooks” — after weeks of urging the opposition to turn to the courts and “use whatever legal mechanisms that have been created via our wonderful constitution to express their dissatisfaction.”
Law Society of Kenya president Isaac Okera condemned the remarks as “wholly inappropriate” and “ominous”.
The fate of the electoral commission (IEBC) was shaping up as the next battle between Mr. Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, heirs to a dynastic rivalry dating back to independence in 1963.
Chief Justice Maraga said the IEBC had failed to properly conduct the election, and that there had been “irregularities and illegalities”.
Fate of poll panel
Mr. Odinga demanded that the commission be replaced, and IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said there would be some “internal changes” but refused to resign.
The previous commission — tarnished by a corruption scandal and poor handling of the 2013 polls — was forced to stand down in October after widespread protests. The new commission, named in January, had only seven months to organise the polls.
Mr. Kenyatta dismissed the option of a change at the IEBC, stating, “We don’t have time for any more reforms.” He accused Mr. Odinga of seeking to derail the election “to join the government through the back door” by forcing a coalition government. “Let IEBC do their job, let them declare the date (of a new election) and Raila let us meet at the ballot.”
It is the first time a presidential election result has been overturned in Africa. Similar court rulings have been seen in Austria, Haiti, Ukraine, Serbia and the Maldives.
Kenya’s press hailed the ruling as a hard-fought victory for the rule of law, and the sign of a maturing democracy. An editorial in the Nation said it “signalled the end of the era of impunity that has painfully assailed this country for too long.”