Raila: I respect Supreme Court ruling although I vehemently disagree

Through a statement on Monday, Raila said the Azimio outfit stands for the rule of law and respects the apex court’s verdict although they “vehemently disagree” with it.

“We have always stood for the rule of law and the constitution. In this regard, we respect the opinion of the court although we vehemently disagree with their decision today,” said Raila.

“Our lawyers proffered irrefutable evidence and the facts were on our side, unfortunately the judges saw it otherwise,” he added.

Led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the election of President-elect William Ruto in the August 9 polls.

"We declare the election of the first respondent as President-elect to be valid..." Chief Justice Martha Koome ruled at 1:34PM.

Raila at the same time took issue with the judgement saying it was “incredible” that the Supreme Court would dismiss all the nine issues they had raised with the presidential results in their petition.

“We find it incredible that the judges found against us on all nine (9) grounds and occasion resulted in unduly exaggerated language to refute our claims,” he said.

He was specifically referring to Chief Justice Martha Koome’s ruling on allegations Odinga’s lawyers raised that Forms 34A on the IEBC server were tampered with by deported Venezuelan national Jose Camargo, which she termed “no more than hot air”.

Odinga went ahead to state: “This judgement is by no means the end of our movement, in fact it inspires us to redouble our efforts to transform this country into a prosperous democracy where each and every Kenyan can find their full belonging.”

While thanking their supporters, Odinga also noted “We will be communicating in the near future on our plans to continue our struggle for transparency, accountability and democracy.”

Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua had moved to court seeking to annul William Ruto’s election.

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati on August 15 declared Dr. Ruto as the winner of the presidential election after garnering 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.49 per cent of the total votes cast. 

Odinga came in second with 6,942,930 votes, which represents 48.85 per cent of the votes cast.

Earlier in the day, Karua had responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying she respects the apex court’s decision although she does not agree with its findings.

“The court has spoken. I respect but disagree with the findings,” she said in a tweet minutes after the ruling.

The Supreme Court ruling now paves the way for William Ruto to be sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president next week on Tuesday.