Kenyan court rules on presidential election

Kenya's Supreme Court Chief Justice Willy Mutunga said on March 30 that the court had approved the victory of candidate Uhuru Kenyatta in the March 4 presidential election.

The ruling dismissed a lawsuit filed by his main rival, incumbent Prime Minister Raila Odinga, over a series of irregularities in the vote.

Supporters of Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta rejoice when the official results of the presidential election were announced. (Photo: THX/TTXVN)

The ruling said the presidential election was "free, fair, transparent and credible" and that Mr. Kenyatta was "validly elected." The ruling paves the way for Mr. Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founding president, to become the African nation's fourth president. He is expected to be sworn in on April 9.

In his speech, Mr. Kenyatta assured Kenyans that the new government would be the most representative and unity government possible and would reflect the country’s face. The United States, Britain, France and the European Commission (EC) have congratulated Mr. Kenyatta on his victory.

On the same day, Mr. Odinga announced his acceptance of the court's ruling and congratulated his opponent.

Meanwhile, hundreds of young people gathered and threw rocks in the western city of Kisumu, Odinga’s biggest stronghold, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. Police said the clashes left two people injured by gunfire.

That same evening, the crowd gathered again, throwing rocks at cars and motorbikes, looting shops and property of passersby, injuring several people.

In Nairobi that same afternoon, police also had to use tear gas to disperse another crowd of supporters of Mr. Odinga protesting there.

The protests are reminiscent of the wave of demonstrations that followed the 2007 election, when Mr Odinga challenged the victory of outgoing President Mwai Kibaki. Violence following that vote left more than 1,200 people dead.

According to the official results of the election on March 4, Mr. Kenyatta received 50.07% of the votes, meeting the necessary majority rule to avoid a second round of voting./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT