NEWS --Kenya’s Supreme Court upholds Kenyatta’s poll victory

Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled on Saturday Uhuru Kenyatta was elected president fairly, unanimously rejecting a challenge from defeated candidate Raila Odinga that the vote was marred by rigging and technical problems.
Reuters reports that the decision cleared the way for Kenya’s richest man to take the top job in east Africa’s biggest economy, but left foreign powers with the headache of dealing with a leader charged with crimes against humanity at The Hague.
Kenya’s outgoing president had called for calm ahead of the judgment which came five years after another ballot dispute triggered widespread bloodshed.
“It is the decision of the court that the third and fourth respondents were validly elected,” Chief Justice Willy Mutunga said in court, referring to Kenyatta and his running mate and deputy president William Ruto.
He said the court had done its duty at a historical moment.
“It is now for the Kenyan people, their leaders, civil society, the private sector and the media to discharge (their duty),

to ensure that the unity, peace, sovereignty and prosperity of the nation is preserved,” he added.
After a week of hearings, the court had unanimously decided the March 4 vote was conducted in a free, fair and credible manner in line with the constitution, he said.
Many ordinary Kenyans have insisted they will not allow a repeat of the violence that killed more than 1,200 people and hammered the economy following a dispute over the last election in 2007.
Meanwhile, Odinga has accepted the ruling of the Supreme Court which dismissed his challenge to the presidential election result, and wished Kenyatta well.
“The court has now spoken,” Odinga told a news conference. “I wish the president-elect, honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, and his team well.”