Kenya's top court orders recount of election results in 15 polling stations

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Kenya’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a recount of votes in 15 polling stations across the country as dispute over this month's presidential election results continues.

A petition was filed by 77-year-old Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua to nullify the results of the Aug. 9 elections in which William Ruto was declared as president.

The top court ordered that the recounting exercise be concluded by Thursday, and also directed the election commission to give the petitioners access to any server(s) at the tallying center for storing and transmitting voting information.

A high-level delegation of African jurists arrived in Kenya on Monday to observe court proceedings that kick off on Wednesday. A bench of seven judges will preside over the appeal, which must be decided by Sept. 5. If they order the cancellation of the result, a new election must be held within 60 days.

Five-time presidential candidate Odinga rejected the "flawed" election results, calling them a "major setback" to democracy in the East African country that could trigger a political crisis. He had filed legal challenges in 2013 and 2017 as well.

Ruto won nearly 7.18 million votes, 50.49% of the total, while Odinga got 48.85% or over 6.94 million votes.