Editorial Board

Kenya's No-Win Election

Going ahead with Thursday's vote risks political instability and violence.

October 24, 2017 at 5:00 AM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

Good things can still come to those who wait.
Photographer: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

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If Kenya goes ahead with its presidential vote this week, it will be making a historic mistake -- one that threatens unrest and undermines a landmark court decision affirming the importance of transparent, free and fair elections.

Thursday's scheduled vote is a redo of one held on Aug. 8, which Kenya's Supreme Court annulled on Sept. 1. In making its historic decision -- the first reversal of an incumbent African president's re-election -- the court cited unconstitutional procedures and electoral systems that had been "infiltrated and compromised." Without specifying remedies, the court ordered Kenya's electoral commission to conduct a new vote within 60 days.