Kenya’s top court upholds Ruto's victory in Aug. 9 presidential election

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenya’s top court on Monday upheld William Ruto's win in the Aug. 9 presidential election, dismissing petitions seeking to nullify the result.

His rival, 77-year-old Raila Odinga had alleged massive fraud in the last month's election, calling them "flawed" and a "major setback" to democracy in the East African country.

Leading a 7-member judge, Chief Justice Martha Koome said Ruto was properly elected president, who received 7.18 million votes, or 50.49% of the total, in the closely fought election. Odinga, meanwhile, got 48.85% or over 6.94 million votes.

The court said it is not convinced that the technology used by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the country’s electoral commission, did not meet legal standards as claimed by the petitioners.

There was no credible evidence that electoral forms were accessed and tempered with before being uploaded to the servers of the electoral commission, the top court said.

The chief justice said a full judgment would be issued in three weeks' time.

Ruto, 55, will be sworn in as the country's fifth president next week.