NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) —Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday lashed out at the judiciary for overturning his re-election, and refused o pposition demands to replace the tarnished polls commission.

While repeating his assertion that he respected the Supreme Court decision, a bellicose Kenyatta set the stage for a bitter and tense rerun of the presidential election which must take place before October 31.

Chief Justice David Maraga on Friday declared Kenyatta’s victory in August 8 polls “invalid, null and void”, pointing to widespread irregularities in the electronic transmission of vote results.

“Every time we do something a judge comes out and places an injunction. It can’t go on like this … there is a problem and we must fix it,” said Kenyatta.

“I think those robes they wear make them think that they are cleverer than the rest of us Kenyans,” Kenyatta said of the Supreme Court judges, taking specific aim at Maraga.

“Maraga thinks he can overturn the will of the people. We shall show you … that the will of the people cannot be overturned by a few people.”

On Friday he slammed the judges as “crooks” — after weeks of urging the opposition to turn to the courts and “use whatever legal mechanisms that have been created via our wonderful constitution to express their dissatisfaction.”

Law Society of Kenya president Isaac Okera condemned his remarks as “wholly inappropriate” and “ominous”.

Meanwhile, the fate of the electoral commission (IEBC) was shaping up as the next battle between Kenyatta and Odinga, heirs to a dynastic rivalry dating back to independence in 1963.

Maraga said the IEBC had failed to properly conduct the presidential election and that there had been “irregularities and illegalities”.

Odinga demanded the discredited commission be replaced, and IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said there would be some “internal changes” but refused to resign.

The previous commission — tarnished by a corruption scandal and poor handling of 2013 polls — was forced to stand down in October after widespread protests. The new commission, named in January, had only seven months to organise the polls.

Kenyatta dismissed the option of a change at the IEBC, stating, “we don’t have time for any more reforms.”

He accused Odinga of seeking to derail the election “to join the government through the back door” by forcing a coalition government.

“Let IEBC do their job, let them declare the date (of a new election) and Raila let us meet at the ballot.”

It is the first time a presidential election result has been overturned in Africa. Similar court rulings have been seen in Austria, Haiti, Ukraine, Serbia, and the Maldives.

Kenya’s press hailed the ruling as a hard-fought victory for the rule of law, and sign of a maturing democracy.

The opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) cried foul after the August 8 poll over alleged hacking of the electronic system transmitting results from over 40,000 polling stations to t he national tallying centre.

NASA argued that tallying forms meant to back up the electronic result were riddled with irregularities: unsigned, not stamped, illegible, or lacking serial numbers or watermarks.

While Maraga cited “irregularities and illegalities”, his full ruling has not yet been published.