Court validates poll result

Burundi's Constitutional Court has rejected an opposition bid to overturn the results of last month's contested election, declaring the ruling party's presidential candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye the victor. The panel of judges ruled that poll fraud complaints by Agathon Rwasa, leader of the National Freedom Council, were ‘null and void’. A report on the News24 site notes that it validated Ndayishimiye's victory with 68% of the vote. Ndayishimiye, a former army general who was handpicked by ruling party elites to ucceed veteran President Pierre Nkurunziza, will be sworn in in August for a seven-year mandate.