Former Kenyan Premier Raila Odinga Accepts Court Verdict

Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister of Kenya, has accepted the verdict by Supreme Court of Kenya. On Saturday evening, the court upheld Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory saying the president-elect was validly elected into office.

At a briefing at the Prime Minister’s office, Odinga wished Kenyatta and his team well in steering Kenya forward.

Odinga noted that although his Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) did not agree with the findings of the court, they would abide by its decision.

Odinga came in second after the historic vote with 5.3 million votes. He however lodged a petition before court challenging the announcement by the IEBC, the electoral body. Kenyatta was elected fourth president with slightly over 6.1 million votes.

The Prime Minister says his belief in constitutionalism remains supreme urging Kenyans to forge forward in resolve for reforms in politics and institutions.

Former presidential candidate Martha Karua congratulated Odinga after the speech saying he upheld the rule of law by putting Kenya first.

Odinga remains the Prime Minister of Kenya until Kenyatta is sworn in on April 9th.

Meanwhile in a turn of events United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron has congratulated President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta. In a statement on its official site, Cameron stressed that this represented the end of a remarkable process, in which more Kenyans than ever before turned out to vote.

Just before the Kenya elections, the UK government had threatened to deal with Kenya only when need arises, if Kenya elected Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto as president and deputy president respectively.

But on Saturday, the UK Prime Minister stated that the Kenyan people had made their sovereign choice, and resolved disputes through the rule of law and the strong institutions of the Supreme Court. The statement further said that, Cameron welcomed the President-elect’s commitment that his new Government will work with all Kenyans in a spirit of inclusivity and reconciliation, and that the Government of Kenya will continue to meet its international legal obligations.

Cameron said his government looked forward to working with the President-elect’s new government to build on this partnership, and to help realise the great potential of a united Kenya in line with Vision 2030.