Raila: Supreme Court Verdict Issued under Duress

Opposition leader Raila Odinga says that President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election remains illegitimate despite the Supreme Court upholding his October 26th victory.

In a statement issued by his adviser Salim Lone, Raila said that the Supreme Court delivered Monday's ruling under duress, adding that Nasa will not recognize the Jubilee government.

“We in Nasa had repeatedly declared before this Supreme Court ruling today that we consider this government to be illegitimate and do not recognise it,” he said.

“This position has not been changed by the court ruling, which did not come as a surprise. It was a decision taken under duress. We do not condemn the court, we sympathise with it.”

In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court threw out two petitions challenging the October vote and upheld the declaration of Uhuru as President-elect, but Lone says the ruling changes nothing.

"The court has unanimously determined that the petitions are not merited. The petitions are hereby dismissed. The presidential election is upheld," Chief Justice David Maraga said.

"As such, the court’s decision today could not possibly legitimise an illegitimate government whose president had publicly accused the court of having carried out a 'coup' by annulling his election and threatened to 'fix' the justices once he was back in power," Lone charged.