[JURIST] Kenya’s election commission on Saturday declared Uhuru Kenyatta [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], son of Kenya’s first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the winner of the nation’s 2013 presidential election. Shortly after the official announcement Kenyatta’s top election opponent Prime Minister Raila Odinga [Al Jazeera profile] announced that he would refuse to concede[BBC report], stating that the election was rife with voting irregularities. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) [advocacy website], however, has reportedly called the elections complex but credible and transparent, and has urged the candidates to accept the commission’s official results. The final vote tallies showed Kenyatta with 50.07 percent of the vote [AP report] and Odinga with 43.3 percent. Odinga has promised to challenge the election results in the Supreme Court of Kenya [official website]. The reported 86 percent turnout of the Kenyan electorate has been said to be the largest of any election ever held in the African nation.

Kenyatta has been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website; JURIST backgrounder] with crimes against humanity arising from violence following Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election. Earlier this week the ICC agreed to delay [JURIST report] until July the trials of Kenyatta and his co-defendant Francis Muthaura [case materials]. Last month Kenyatta and Muthaura asked [JURIST report] the ICC to review the decision to move forward with the trial. In December the two Kenyans announced [JURIST report] that they would be running together in the March elections despite the upcoming trials. In October the ICC called for complete cooperation [JURIST report] from the Kenyan government in the investigation and trial process. Also facing trial are former cabinet minister William Ruto [case materials] and journalist Joshua Arap Sang [case materials]. In June the ICC expressed its desire to start the two Kenyan trials simultaneously [JURIST report] to avoid any appearance of bias in the March 2013 presidential election.