Kenya becomes the 1st country in Africa to nullify Presidential elections

History was made on 1 September, 2017 in Kenya after the presidential elections was declared null and void.

Kenya became the first country in Africa to nullify a presidential election after the country’s Supreme Court on Friday nullified the August 8 presidential elections which declared the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta winner.

The Supreme Court found out that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) breached the constitution in the transmission of the election results and therefore ruled the results invalid.

The court has called for a rerun of the presidential elections within 60 days as stated in the constitution.

Globally, Kenya joins Austria, Maldives and Ukraine to become the only countries so far to have cancelled presidential results.

In 2016, Austria's highest court annulled the result of the presidential election won by the former leader of the Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen, by just 30,863 votes or less than one percentage point.

In 2013, Maldivian supreme court annulled the results of the September 7 presidential election and ordered a fresh one while in 2004, Ukrainian Supreme Court also nullified the Presidential Elections.

Kenya’s presidential verdict is likely to have a spiral effect across the continent and inspire other courts to follow suit whenever they feel elections were not free and fair.