Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta calls for ‘fixing' judiciary after Supreme Court orders fresh vote

Kenya's incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses a crowd in a Nairobi suburb on September 1, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Kenya's incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for judicial reforms in the country after the Supreme Court annulled his victory in the August election.

Speaking during a live televised speech at a meeting of his Jubilee party on Saturday, Kenyatta pointed to the country’s judiciary system, saying, “We shall revisit this thing. We clearly have a problem … We have a problem and we must fix it."

On Friday, Kenya's Supreme Court declared Kenyatta's election victory as “invalid, null and void” due to irregularities committed by the election board and ordered a new poll within 60 days. The Supreme Court ruling on the Kenya poll cancellation was the first of its kind in Africa. 

Kenyatta criticized the court for ignoring the will of the people and called the chief justice's colleagues "crooks.”

He had said earlier that the judges had “decided to go against the will of the people” but noted that he would respect the court ruling.

Kenya's opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga (L) talks with one of his lawyers at the Supreme Court in Nairobi on September 1, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Following the court ruling, Kenyatta will have to compete with veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga in a new round of election.

Odinga has contested the last three presidential polls and lost all of them. After each election, he has claimed the votes were rigged.

In 2007, Kenya witnessed weeks of ethnic bloodshed that claimed the lives of 1,200 people, after Odinga challenged the vote results. In 2013 elections, the Supreme Court dismissed his petition.