Court ruling is 'supreme coup' on will of Kenyans - Ruto

DP William Ruto has termed the Supreme Court ruling nullifying President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election a coup on Kenyans' will.

Ruto was reacting to the detailed judgement read by six judges.

On Wednesday, Chief Justice David Maraga, DCJ Philomena Mwili and Justice Isaac Lenaola read the majority ruling, while Justices Njoki Ndung'u and Jackton Ojwang' issued dissenting opinions.

More on this: Maraga details IEBC mistakes, says alternate system a must

"Evidently a supreme coup on sovereign Will of the people was executed on basis of technicalities against their verdict captured in ballots," Ruto said via Twitter.

The Deputy President's remarks received mixed reactions with more than 900 replies and 1,000 retweets.

"Open the servers, the Ballot Boxes to confirm if what is in the Servers is exactly what is in the Ballot Boxes," Charles Mark Dienya‏ said.

Mwenyeji‏ said, "You said go to court. They went to court. Just like you said let's go Hague. And Hague you went."

"William, who bewitched you?... that spirit that made you once cry in Church should come down," Stephen Mwalo‏ said.

Abdullahi Musa‏ said "But you won your case in 2013 on technicality basis, why change the narratives now against your own judgement of 2013?"

"You now confirm that the issue of accept and move on is not easy," Hesborn Siundu‏ said.

Mohamed Yussuf‏ said "This time around they may just disqualify You. Let the election be free and fair."

"And who gave u the sole prerogative of determining what the will of the people is? From where I stand, the SC has upheld the will of the pple, (sic)" @EmperorJo said.

But other users agreed with Ruto's assertions, claiming some judges were compromised.

"Kenyans have known the truth. Some judges were compromised. Justice Wanjala has left the country distancing himself from the supreme ruling," Rapho bafeotex said.

Read: Judge Wanjala misses full verdict, takes child to London school

John Paul‏ said "CJ Maraga is so arrogant he threatens that if similar minor problems are encountered in the next election he'll nullify it too."

Supporters of President Uhuru Kenyatta carry placards as they demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in protest of the nullification of his victory by the Supreme Court Judges in Nairobi, Kenya, September 19, 2017. /REUTERS

During the session, Maraga who was reading the majority judgement directed IEBC to put in place a complementary system for the October vote as previous elections had "enormous illegalities and irregularities".

Maraga said the electoral agency should go back to the drawing board before NASA chief Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta vie again.

The election has been scheduled for October 17 but this could change.

In her address earlier Mwilu said the electoral agency's system was infiltrated and data contaminated.

Read: IEBC's system was infiltrated, restricted access suspicious - Mwilu

But Ojwang' said he dissented the annulment of the petition as the respondents did not contravene any provisions of the constitution or any other statutes.

Ojwang' argued that during the hearings, arguments by petitioners were anchored on bare generalities, not factual evidence.

Read: Raila's Supreme Court arguments general, lacking evidence - Justice Ojwang

Ndung'u said most Supreme Court judges based their petition ruling on Article 83 of the Elections Act which ignored the sovereignty of the people.

In details of her dissenting opinion on the matter, she said as much as the judges critically looked at provisions of Articles 81 and 86 of the constitution, they did not consider those of Articles 82 and 83 which are fundamental to an election process.

Read: Most judges cherry-picked, ignored Kenyans' rights in petition - Njoki Ndung'u

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