Kenya’s Supreme Court chief justice Martha Koome delivered the most important judgement in her short career as the nation's most senior judge by upholding Deputy President William Ruto's victory over Raila Odinga in the 9 August presidential election.

Mr Ruto achieved a stunning victory in the 9 August election, but Mr Odinga and others alleged there had been massive fraud. 

In its ruling on Monday, 5 September, the court dismissed all eight petitions challenging the elections, saying that some were based on forged documents and "sensational information". No credible evidence that the electronic voting transmission system had been tampered with by a supposed "middle man" was presented, reports BBC Africa. 

62-year-old women’s rights campaigner Martha Koome became Kenya’s first female chief justice in 2021. She played an important role in drafting Kenya’s 2010 constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights, and is a founding member of the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida), which offers pro-bono representation of victims of gender and sexual violence in Kenya.

Koome’s reading of the verdict showed that Kenya's courts are independent and committed to safeguarding democracy. The ruling ends a protracted election dispute that started after polls closed last month, leading to widespread uncertainty across Kenya, in case of a repeat of previous outbreaks of election violence.