Kenya's Supreme Court has ruled that William Ruto was properly elected president, dismissing several petitions seeking to annul the result of the 9 August election.
His rival, Raila Odinga, and others had alleged that
massive fraud, including tampering with results forms, had taken place.
Mr Ruto garnered 50.5% of the vote in the closely fought
election.
The 55-year-old will be sworn in as the country's fifth
president next week.
The eight petitions challenging the elections were all
dismissed. The court found some were based on forged documents and
"sensational information", Chief Justice Martha Koome said in a
unanimous decision on behalf of the seven judges.
No credible evidence that the electronic voting
transmission system had been tampered with by "a middle man" was
presented, she said.
Ms Koome also said that Mr Ruto had met the constitutional
threshold of garnering 50%+1 of votes cast.
The ruling ends a protracted election dispute that started
after polls closed last month.
Mr Odinga's team had used the dissent of four of the seven
electoral commissioners - who disowned the poll results because they had fallen
out with the chairman - to bolster his case.
But the court, while noting the "dysfunction" of
the commission in managing its internal affairs, said it was not convinced that
the claims of the chairman running a one-man show was enough to undermine the
election.
"Are we to nullify the outcome of an election on the
basis of a last-minute boardroom rupture whose details remain scanty?" the
judges asked.
The ruling prompted celebrations in Mr Ruto's home area of
the Rift Valley and parts of the Central region where his running mate hails
from.
In Mr Odinga's stronghold of Kisumu, there is a subdued
atmosphere. Streets are deserted and some businesses have closed for the day.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was backing Mr Odinga, is
expected to address the country in the coming hours. bbc
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