Nairobi — Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is back in the country days after he took a vacation with his family to 'reflect and heal' after the shocking loss during the August 9 election.

Odinga who was away in Zanzibar jetted back to the country Thursday to attend the swearing in of Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir.

"I have been out of the country; I went to recuperate in the spice Island of Zanzibar. I took my wife, children and grandchildren also to go heal after the shock they got as a family," he said.

This was the first appearance of the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya flag bearer in the polls following the unanimous Supreme Court verdict that upheld the victory of President William Ruto.

While congratulating the newly sworn in Mombasa Governor, Odinga hailed the coastal residents for overwhelmingly voting for the Azimio candidate despite the postponement of the election that would have interfered with the election outcome.

"The Mombasa election and that of Kakamega was deliberately left behind like our lawyers said in court so they could have a trial after the rigging. People of Mombasa have showed they are truly Azimio and this is the pride that we have," Odinga noted.

The Azimio team filed a petition at the apex court challenging the victory of President-Elect William Ruto but it was dismissed in its entirety on grounds that it lacked merit.

The Martha Koome-led bench, in its unanimous ruling, stated that part of the evidence presented by the Azimio brigade was "hot air," and had set the court on a wild goose chase.

The court dismissed all the nine issues they had structured in the consolidated petition, challenging President-Elect William Ruto's win.

The verdict dealt a significant blow to the Azimio team, whose leader Raila Odinga was hoping the judges would nullify the results of the August 9, 2022, hotly contested presidential election.