NAIROBI Antonio Callaway Browns Jersey , Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Friday hailed the Supreme Court decision to annul the Aug. 8 presidential elections that declared President Uhuru Kenya as winner, terming the ruling "historic" for Kenya and Africa.
Speaking after the apex court delivered its verdict, Odinga termed the annulment of the election result as a "very historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension the people of the continent of Africa".
"For the first time, a ruling has been made by court nullifying the elections. I want to thank the judges for doing this for posterity of people of Kenya," he said.
Odinga's running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka, said he was happy but noted that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) must be punished.
"We will have to look deeply into the conduct of IEBC. We do not have faith that they are capable of conducting free and fair elections," said Musyoka.
In the verdict delivered by Chief Justice David Maraga, the judges by majority observed that there is sufficient evidence to show the IEBC did not adhere to the law in conducting the election.
Maraga, agreed by Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Smokin Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola, said the electoral body messed in the transmission of results. The judges, however, absolved bale of President Kenyatta.
The judges directed the electoral body to conduct fresh elections within 60 days, in accordance to Article 140 of the Constitution.
Two judges, Jackton Ojwang and Njoki Ndung'u, dissented with the majority ruling, saying they saw no need to cancel the election.
The two dissenting judges said the polls were free, fair and credible as described by international observers.
Maraga, who is also the president of the court, called on Kenyans to maintain peace, saying that an election is a process and not an event.
Odinga urged other African countries to follow suit in the adoption of democracy in the running of state affairs.
Uganda, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone are other countries on the African continent where presidential elections have been challenged in courts of law but have not been nullified.
Analysts say nullification of Kenyatta's victory is particularly crucial to Odinga as it has granted his political career a lifeline as he had vowed never to contest for presidency again.
The opposition leader's lead lawyer James Orengo said that the ruling is precedent setting in Kenya and Africa.
"Never has a supreme court overturned a victory of a seating president ... The rest of the continent will follow suit. There is going to be new fresh presidential elections," Orengo said.
Lawyers who represented President Kenyatta and the IEBC faulted the judgment and sought explanations and clarifications from the judges. They termed the verdict a political one.
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