Senior African jurists arrive in Kenya for presidential petition hearing

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - A high-level delegation of African jurists arrived in Kenya on Monday to observe proceedings at the country's top court concerning recently concluded presidential elections mired in dispute.

The jurists, led by retired Tanzanian Chief Justice Mohammed Chande Othman, will attend all hearings over six days at the Supreme Court of Kenya on the election results, challenged by nine legal petitions, said a statement by the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF).

Also analyzing the "role and independence" of the judiciary in examining the disputes, the team will "review the socio-political climate" in the run-up to the petition, said the statement.

It added that the jurists would file a report after their work, based on international human rights and fair trial standards, to better improve the judicial systems in Africa.

The team's other members comprise of top jurists from Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, and South Africa.

Forensics analysis of the systems of Kenya's electoral body shows that the system's servers were breached, according to a report by the Kenyan daily, Nation.

Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta has remained silent on the disputed elections despite openly supporting the leader of the opposition, 77-year-old Raila Odinga, before the elections over his deputy, William Ruto, who was declared the winner of the Aug. 9 vote.

Five-time presidential candidate Odinga has rejected the declared election results, calling them "flawed" and a setback to democracy in the East African country.

Announcing the results, Ruto won nearly 7.18 million votes, 50.49% of the total, while Odinga got 48.85%, or over 6.94 million votes.

The opposition in Kenya has resorted to the Supreme court to challenge Ruto's win, with the hearings into the petitions to begin on Aug. 31 by a bench of seven Supreme Court judges.​​​​​​​