WASHINGTON: The White House congratulated Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday for winning Kenya's presidential vote and urged Kenyans to accept the results peacefully after a Supreme Court verdict upheld them.
"We also congratulate the people of Kenya on the peaceful conduct of the election and commend Raila Odinga for accepting the Supreme Court's decision," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.
"The electoral process and the peaceful adjudication of disputes in the Kenyan legal system are testaments to the progress Kenya has made in strengthening its democratic institutions, and the desire of the Kenyan people to move their country forward."
Kenya is still traumatized by the violence that erupted after the presidential election in 2007 that left more than 1,100 people dead, and over which Kenyatta himself is facing international charges of crimes against humanity.
Kenyatta was proclaimed winner of the poll on March 4, but his rival Odinga challenged the result.
In their ruling, six Supreme Court judges upheld Kenyatta's victory and said the election had been conducted in a "free, fair, transparent and credible manner."
In his statement, Carney emphasized the strong relationship between Washington and Nairobi, which he said was based on "a shared commitment to democracy, security and opportunity."
He called on Kenyans "to come together to fully implement the political, institutional, and accountability reforms envisioned in the Kenyan constitution."
<Center><b><i>Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013</b></i></center>
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