Kenya court set to hear petitions challenging repeat vote

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya’s Supreme Court is poised to hear petitions challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election in a repeat presidential poll.

The court made history when it nullified Kenyatta’s re-election in August. It cited irregularities and illegalities in the vote count and the electoral commission’s failure to allow scrutiny of its servers to dispel opposition leader Raila Odinga’s claim of fraud. It then ordered a new vote.

There are concerns about intimidation after the court failed to find a quorum to consider a petition seeking to postpone the repeat presidential election on Oct. 26, a day after a bodyguard of one of the judges was shot.

Politician Harun Mwau and activists Njonjo Mue and Khelef Khalifa seek to nullify the Oct. 26 election, which Odinga boycotted citing lack of electoral reforms.