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Kenya's Odinga sets conditions to take part in poll re-run 

By AFP
Kenya Raila Odinga waves at supporters after the landmark Supreme Court ruling scrapping last month's presidential election.  By SIMON MAINA AFPFile
SEP 5, 2017 LISTEN
Raila Odinga waves at supporters after the landmark Supreme Court ruling scrapping last month's presidential election. By SIMON MAINA (AFP/File)

Nairobi (AFP) - Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday set conditions for taking part in a presidential vote re-run in October after the Supreme Court annulled last month's poll won by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

His conditions include the sacking of several election commission officials, a review of the electronic transmission of results and for all eight presidential candidates who took part in the August 8 poll to be allowed to contest the October 17 election.

On Friday, Supreme Court Chief Justice David Maraga declared Kenyatta's victory "invalid, null and void", citing widespread irregularities in the electronic transmission of vote results.

It is the first time a presidential election result has been overturned in Africa, and follows three failed bids by Odinga for the presidency, in 1997, 2007 and 2013.

An enraged Kenyatta, while saying he would respect the decision, lashed out at the judges, saying: "Every time we do something a judge comes out and places an injunction. It can't go on like this... there is a problem and we must fix it."

The president also branded the judges "crooks", sparking a strong reaction from the judiciary about his "veiled threats" which it called an "assault on the judiciary."

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