Fireworks loom at apex court as merged poll cases start

With the hearing of presidential election petitions by Supreme Court judges set to begin today, the court has consolidated seven cases challenging the declaration of Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader William Ruto as winner of the August 9 polls.

 In the seven petitions that were consolidated yesterday by seven judges of the apex court, the main petitioner was Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua.

 Other petitioners include activists Okiya Omtatah, Khelef Khalifa, David Kairuki Ngari, John Njoroge Kamau, lobby group Youth Advocacy Africa, and Juliana Chege.

Yesterday, Chief Justice Martha Koome said the petitions would be heard together. “We find that they all raise similar issues and seek similar orders. Therefore, we order that the seven petitions are consolidated,” said Koome.

 “The ending of the matter will therefore read as Raila Odinga and Martha Karua as the first petitioners,” she announced. 

According to the petitioners, the August 9 poll was conducted in a manner that disregarded the Constitution, rule of law, national values, principles of good governance, and the lawful authority of the court.

They claim that, among other things, president-elect Ruto did not garner 50 per cent plus one vote required for a candidate to be declared the winner. Also, they state that electoral commission chairperson Wafula Chebukati announced the outcome without tallying and verifying results from 27 constituencies, which would have affected the final tally. 

 Raila and Karua have sought over 20 reliefs, among them nullification of the results announced by Chebukati. They also want IEBC to be directed to tally and verify the results and declare the two of them as President and Deputy President-elect.

The coalition has also attached affidavits by former Governance Permanent Secretary John Githongo alleging that rogue techies were granted access to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) systems and manipulated form 34As from the polling stations. His sworn testimony claims this was done to favour Ruto.

Githongo claims that a hacker allegedly hired by Dennis Itumbi, Ruto’s close aide, confessed to intercepting uploaded form 34As and doctoring the figures in favour of Ruto before re-uploading them to IEBC’s public portal.

 The whistle-blower confessed to being part of a team of 56 people, alleges Githongo. 

Busia Senator and activist Okiya Omtatah also wants the presidential elections quashed, as well as the declaration of the president-elect and deputy president-elect, arguing that none of the candidates attained 50 per cent plus one vote as required by the Constitution.