NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the victory of Mr Uhuru Kenyatta in the March 4 presidential election, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga said.

The court unanimously ruled that the election had been conducted in a "free, fair, transparent and credible" manner and that Mr Kenyatta and his running mate had been "validly elected", the chief justice said.

"It is the decision of the court that the 3rd and 4th respondents (Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto) were validly elected."

The six judges dismissed petitions filed by Mr Raila Odinga, outgoing prime minister and Mr Kenyatta's main rival in the presidential race, and by civil society groups, over what they said was a series of irregularities that skewed the election results.

The petitioners had called for fresh elections to be ordered.

Mr Kenyatta faces trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over his alleged role in planning the violence that followed the 2007 elections and left more than 1,100 people dead.