Kenya’s outgoing president called for his nation to stay calm when a court rules on Saturday on a legal challenge over the presidential election result, seeking to avoid a repeat of the tribal bloodbath that followed a disputed vote five years ago.
Orderly voting on March 4 after which Uhuru Kenyatta was declared victor has gone a long way to restoring Kenya’s image as one of Africa's more stable democracies. And this time round, a row over the result has played out in court not the street.
But the final test comes when Kenyans hear from the Supreme Court whether it upholds Kenyatta's win or orders a new vote that would give another chance to defeated Raila Odinga, who disputed the result declared on March 9 after a five-day count.
Kenyatta, whose win would pose a headache for Western donors because of charges he faces in the Hague over the 2007 violence, was well ahead of Odinga in total votes but had only just enough to exceed the 50 percent threshold to avoid a run-off.
Published 29 March 2013, 18:04 IST