One of the presidential candidates in the August 8
election, Mohammed Abduba Dida, has pulled out of the ‘fresh election’
ordered by the Supreme Court.
Dida further threw his weight behind Nasa candidate Raila
Odinga saying that he will defeat Uhuru in a free and fair election.
“From Uhuru Kenyatta’s reactions after the Supreme Court ruling,
even a class one kid will tell you that Raila Odinga will win the election in
November if the election is free and fair. Uhuru knows very well that he is a
one-term president. I will not contest, I’ll support Raila Odinga, he means
well for this great nation,” Dida said in a press statement.
Abduba Dida finished 4th in the August 8th election, with
about 0.25% of the total votes cast.
With 44%, Raila filed a petition at the Supreme Court to
contest Uhuru’s win. He raised many issues, most importantly what he believed
to be manipulation of the transmission system. The Supreme Court was convinced
that the election process was not free and fair and on Friday annulled Uhuru’s
win, ordering a fresh election in 60 days.
It remains unclear whether Dida and the rest of the
candidates will be allowed to contest in a ‘fresh election’, even if they want
to. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that a fresh election should only be
between the petitioner and the announced winner.
Abduba Dida has come out to disown the statement attributed
to him. Speaking the The Star, Dida said, “I’m not even aware where I said
these words. I’m still in shock a lot of people , my friends from Europe,
Russian and all over the world have been calling me and currently I am
overwhelmed by the number of calls I have to answer.”
