Tactical blunder that denied Odinga chance to be president
Nasa leader Raila Odinga addressing the media at Okoa Kenya offices, Nairobi on October 10, 2017. Mr Odinga, the Nasa candidate, withdrew from the repeat poll on September 10, citing lack of commitment to electoral reforms. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The withdrawal of Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga from the repeat election of October 26 was a tactical blunder that cost him the chance to lead the country, the Supreme Court confirmed in its judgment on Monday, 21 days after it upheld the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Supreme Court judges said that while his public announcement and letter to the electoral commission was legal, within his rights and substantive, there was no way the elections it had ordered to be repeated could have been postponed.
