Kenya's Odinga Questions Participating in New Elections

Kenyan opposition leader and presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who claimed fraud in the country’s Aug. 8 election, is questioning his group’s participation in future elections.

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Odinga set conditions for participating in new presidential elections slated for October, including the removal of a slew of election commission officials and a thorough assessment of electronic transmission results, local media reported. His Orange Democratic Movement party is considering not participating if these demands are not met. 

Kenya's Supreme Court nullified last month's election win by incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Supreme Court Chief Justice David Maraga declared Kenyatta's presidential victory "invalid, null and void" last Friday. To justify his decision, he cited "rampant irregularities" in the electronic transmission of vote results.

“Every time we do something a judge comes out and places an injunction,” Kenyatta said in response to Maraga's ruling. “It can't go on like this.” 

He went on to label the Supreme Court justices as a bunch of “crooks.”

The judiciary, for its part, didn't take Kenyatta's words lightly, countering that such “veiled threats” signify a clear “assault” on the legal branch.

Shortly after accusing Kenyatta's ruling coalition of election hacking, unrest began in Kibera and areas around Nairobi. Large numbers of police forces were deployed.

Protests began to break out in opposition-led areas within minutes of Odinga finishing his televised speech in which he accused hackers of infiltrating the voting system, according to witnesses who spoke to the Associated Press.

This is the first time a presidential election result has been legally overturned in Kenya. A senior official of Kenya's election commission announced that the country will hold new presidential elections on Oct.17.