Kenya’s Odinga is taking legal action against the outcome of the presidential election

Kenya’s losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga filed a petition in the country’s top court on Monday challenging the outcome of the Aug. 9 election that gave victory to his rival William Ruto.

Odinga, a veteran opposition leader who ran with the support of President Uhuru Kenyatta and the ruling party, has dismissed the poll’s result, branding it a “mockery”.

He narrowly lost to Ruto by around 230,000 votes – less than two percentage points.

The 77-year-old politician filed a physical copy of the petition just under an hour before the 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) court deadline for taking the case. An online copy was filed earlier in the day, according to a member of his legal team.

Hundreds of supporters cheered as dozens of boxes of evidence were unloaded from a truck outside the courthouse.

“We hope we made a good case and we’re going to win,” Daniel Maanzo, a member of Odinga’s legal team, told AFP.

Although election day was peaceful, the announcement of the results a week ago sparked angry protests in some Odinga strongholds, and there are fears a protracted dispute could lead to violence in a country with a history of post-election unrest.

Every presidential election in Kenya since 2002 has sparked a dispute, with this year’s result also creating a rift within the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which oversaw the election.

Odinga, running for the top job for the fifth time, said last week that the figures announced by the IEBC were “null and void and should be overturned by a court”.

According to a copy of the 72-page petition seen by AFP, Odinga’s team claims IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati failed to collect around 140,000 votes.

As a result, Ruto “did not meet the constitutional threshold of 50% plus 1 of the valid votes cast” – a requirement to be declared the winner.

The judges now have 14 days to make a decision. If they order an annulment, it must be re-voted within 60 days.

Odinga supporters began gathering outside the courthouse hours before his arrival, blowing whistles and waving placards reading “Voting Justice Now!” and “We want justice now”.

“Odinga has to win so we can get the 6,000 shillings ($50) promised in his manifesto,” said a man wearing a crown of plants, referring to a monthly cash payment to households in need.

Another man – armed with a Bible and wearing giant green glasses – knelt and prayed while police guarded the courthouse.

Judges are also expected to consider other challenges to the outcome, with a court clerk telling reporters the court had already received two petitions filed by a voter and a nonprofit.

The IEBC was under intense pressure to cast a clean vote after being slammed for its handling of the August 2017 election, a point also questioned by Odinga.

The court annulled this election for the first time in Africa and ordered a rerun, which Odinga boycotted. Dozens of people died in a police crackdown on protests.

Shortly before the results of this year’s poll were announced, four of the IEBC’s seven commissioners accused Chairman Chebukati of running an “opaque” operation and later said the numbers didn’t add up.

Chebukati denied the lawsuits, insisting he had performed his duties under the country’s law despite “intimidation and harassment.”

Legal experts are divided over whether Chebukati needed the commissioners’ support to announce the findings, with constitutional attorney Charles Kanjama telling AFP there was “some ambiguity” over the issue.

Odinga has previously said he was cheated of victory in the 2007, 2013 and 2017 elections, and the poll’s aftermath is being watched with suspense as a test of democratic maturity in the East African powerhouse.

During the election campaign, both top candidates pledged to resolve disputes in court rather than on the street.

Since the results were announced, Odinga has commended his supporters for “keeping calm,” while Ruto struck a conciliatory tone and vowed to “work with all leaders.”

Kenya’s worst electoral violence came after the 2007 election, when more than 1,100 people died in politically motivated clashes between rival tribes.

If the Supreme Court upholds the findings, Ruto will become Kenya’s fifth president since independence from Britain in 1963 and take the reins of a country struggling with rising inflation, high unemployment and a crippling drought.