Kenya’s Odinga believes he won the elections, waiting for Supreme Court’s decision

Raila Odinga, the leader of the Kenyan opposition, said he will respect the court’s decision even though he still thinks he won the presidential election this month. This is Odinga’s fifth attempt at being president. He blamed previous defeats on rigging, accusations that have twice provoked violent protests in the country.

Odinga’s legal team accused his rival, William Ruto, and his team of hacking the election system to substitute real photographs of polling station result forms, raising Ruto’s vote.

The newly elected president, Ruto, refuted the accusations.

The Supreme Court must make a decision by September 5. Fears of violence have been sparked by the controversy, similar to polls in 2007 and 2017 where 1,200 people and 100 people died, respectively.

Reuters reported that Odinga said, "If the courts decide otherwise, we will basically respect the ruling of the courts." In a conversation with Reuters, the leader said he should be declared the winner. Odinga declared that the chairman should be replaced.

In addition to this, he will accept and obey the decision of the court. As per Ruto’s legal defense, Odinga’s lawsuit was "full of sound and fury."

In order to precipitate a constitutional crisis and compel a power-sharing arrangement, he charged Odinga with fabricating computer records.

In his court testimony, the chairman of the election commission claimed that the elections were "free, air and credible."

The dissident commissioners have responded, expressing their worries about the counting procedure.

Any turmoil in Kenya has an impact on the surrounding area. Kenya serves as an important transportation hub for countries like Somalia and South Sudan.

(With inputs from agencies)