Kenya's Supreme Court Upholds Kenyatta's Poll Win Daily Brief: Monday November 20

Supporters of President Kenyatta cheer outside the Supreme Court after a unanimous decision was made by the bench to uphold President Kenyatta's recent win.

Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya's supreme court has upheld President Kenyatta's victory in the October 26 presidential election re-run which was boycotted by the main opposition. This paves way for Mr. Kenyatta to be inaugurated for a second term next week.
The judges found that the two petitions that were presented before the bench that were challenging the election results are not merited.The petitions were filed by the former assistant minister and Kilome MP Harun Mwau, lawyer Njonjo Mue and activist Khelef Khalifa. The full ruling will be out in twenty- one days. The decision was unanimous

Raila Odinga, the main opposition challenger, claimed the Supreme Court upheld President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election victory under duress. While reportedly in Tanzania, Raila claimed that the Jubilee government was illegitimate and that the opposition’s next course of action will be announced this week.

A statement released by his advisor, SalimLone, said that , "The court met under severely constrained circumstances, having failed to raise a quorum over serious security concerns following the shooting and wounding of the Deputy Chief Justice’s driver before a crucial pre-October 26 election hearing."

Preparations for the swearing in of the president is now ongoing at the Safaricom Stadium in Kasarani, Nairobi. A team of top security officials from various departments, including the military held a meeting inside the stadium.

According to Mr. Joseph Irungu, the chair of the Assumption of Office sub-committee on Security, Logistics, and Protocol, the military rehearsals are to commence on Tuesday. "We expect about 100,000 visitors and invitations to heads of state have already been sent out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said

The committee involves officials from the ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Finance, and ICT.

Also involved in the planning are the director-general of the National Intelligence Service, the Inspector General of Police, chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, chief registrar of the Judiciary, the Chief Justice and the secretary to the Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat.

The National Super Alliance, the opposition body, has announced plans to swear in Raila Odinga as the President of the People’s Republic of Kenya on Tuesday next week. This is the same day as Uhuru is going to be sworn in.

Kenyans will be eagerly awaiting to see if the opposition goes ahead with that decision. Will Raila be liable for treason? The Supreme Court decision is final and going against the decision is going against the constitution which will sow chaos and political uncertainty.

We here at the Briefing Room will update you on any new developments