Kenya Supreme court ruling shows Africa will no longer accept rigging - Irbard Ibrahim

International relations expert Ibard Ibrahim has said the annulment of Kenya’s August 2017 presidential results by that country’s Supreme Court is unprecedented.

The ruling he said will serve as a lesson to incumbent leaders in Africa that, the era where they had incumbency advantage was over.

The ruling he further posited casts doubts on the credibility of international observers. According to him, the caliber of observers in Kenya’s election should not have led to this development.

He said, Raila Odinga after the declaration made claims that the presidential election was not free, fair and transparent.

However, he was ignored. ‘’Kenya had observers like John Kerry, who led the Carter Center observer mission. After the election he said: "The process that was put in place is proving its value thus far".

"Kenya has made a remarkable statement to Africa and the world about its democracy and the character of that democracy. Don't let anybody besmirch that. The AU mission led by Mr. Mbeki said it found the polls to be “largely peaceful and credible”.

The European Union just as the Commonwealth observer missions also gave the poll a clean bill of health. But the opposition leader said the declaration was not the true reflection of the election and yet, he was written off and his claim was seen as the usual ranting after every election.

But the court declared it as invalid, null and void. It is not the verdict by an observer mission that makes an election free and fair. How many people are they able to deploy to the various polling centres?

He said the incumbent should have won the polls transparently. ‘’Whether Uhuru is the darling boy of the Western countries; I like him he is an elegant man but in winning an election, you must win the election in a free, fair and transparent manner. This is a lesson for us and it also shows that control over electoral commissions of Africa, will not guarantee you an electoral victory. When we say an independent electoral commission, it must surely be independent.

‘’The era of advantage of incumbency is over. The Kenyan example is unprecedented. Every electoral dispute ends with the ruling party being confirmed by the court. But the ruling by the Supreme Court of Kenya, has shown that we will no longer sit and allow advantage of incumbency affect our elections…It is a very good example for the electoral process on the African continent,’’ he said.