IEBC presidential poll results null and void – Raila

Azimio-One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga yesterday rejected the declaration by elections chief Wafula Chebukati that Deputy President William Ruto had won the August 9 presidential contest.

Raila who was speaking for the first time since the announcement of results on Monday evening, signalled that he was preparing for a major legal battle in court.

If he challenges the results at the Supreme Court, he has one week to submit the petition, after which it must be heard and determined in 14 days.

Raila said that the figures claimed by Chebukati were null and void and should be thrown out by a competent court of law. One of the grounds of his rejection of the vote was the disagreement that rocked the electoral commission just before Chebukati announced the winners.

Four of the seven commissioners rejected the results on Monday and yesterday, saying the last phase of counting and tallying had been opaque. They also questioned why the tallied total votes were adding up to 100.01 per cent (see separate stories).

Raila’s rejection of the results came even as Chebukati yesterday gazetted Ruto and his running mate Rigathi Gachagua, as President-elect and Deputy President-elect respectively.

Vowing to fight the results, Raila said: “The figures announced by Chebukati are null and void and must be quashed by a court of law. In our view, there is neither a legally and validly declared winner nor a president-elect. Mr Chebukati’s announcement purporting to announce a winner is a nullity.”

He also thanked his supporters for remaining peaceful as he and other Azimio leaders prepared to challenge the results.

He said that Chebukati had acted with gross impunity and in total disregard of the Constitution and the laws, adding that he could have plunged the country into chaos had Azimio supporters not exercised restraint.

“Such blatant acts of impunity can be a threat to the security of our country. It is not up to us to decide whether Chebukati has committed an offense. We leave that determination to the appropriate authorities. We totally and without reservations reject the presidential results announced by Chebukati.”

Raila, flanked by his running mate Martha Karua and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, said the law does not vest in IEBC chairperson the powers of a dictator to rule the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) unilaterally.

He was making reference to the decision by four IEBC commissioners to disown the results announced by Chebukati.

The Azimio flagbearer further explained that the chairperson and a tiny minority of commissioners have no legal authority to make weighty decisions and proclaim them as the rulings of the commission.

Political crisis

Raila said the electoral law provides that unless a unanimous decision is reached, a decision on any matter before the commission shall be by a majority of the members present and voting.

“The law is clear on the role of the Chairperson of the IEBC. IEBC is structured as a democratic institution in which decisions must be taken either by consensus or by a vote of the majority. Our budding democracy suffered a major setback.  Kenya faces a grave legal and political crisis as a result of the actions of Mr Wafula Chebukati, the Chairperson of the IEBC,” Raila said a day after Ruto was handed the certificate indicating that he had won the election with 7.17 million votes against Raila 6.94 million.

Raila cited the Court of Appeal in the Maina Kiai case, in which the judges said: “We reiterate as we conclude that there is no doubt from the architecture of the laws we have considered that the people of Kenya did not intend to vest or concentrate such sweeping and boundless powers in one individual, the chairperson of the Appellant.”

Following the announcement on Monday that cleared Ruto and Gachagua to be sworn in, Raila said the Azimio team will pursue “constitutional and lawful channels” and processes to invalidate what he described as Chebukati’s illegal and unconstitutional pronouncement.

“We will do so because we regard the many flaws in the elections and the wrongs committed by IEBC as fatal to the process and the outcome announced by Chebukati. We are certain that justice will prevail.”

At the same, Raila urged Azimio supporters not to take the law into their hands, urging them to continue remaining calm and keeping the peace.

“We urge Kenyans and the friends and partners of Kenya abroad to stand tall and be counted as we seek to advance the ideals of democracy and open society that we have always stood for. We will pursue justice for our supporters and for all Kenyans so that their choices are respected and honoured.”

Commissioners walkout

Raila said the commission had previously agreed on the tally of the presidential results, but barely two hours before the announcement, Chebukati called a meeting of the commissioners and revealed to them the set of results he was going to announce.

It was during this that commission Vice Chair Juliana Cherera and commissioners Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi and Irene Masit protested.

They claimed that it appeared that Chebukati’s mind was already made up and did not entertain any discussion of the results, precipitating a walkout by the commissioners who promptly denounced the results at a press conference at Serena Hotel.

Fait accompli

“Azimio and the nation at large were shocked to learn that Chebukati alone decided to pronounce himself the supposed winner of the 2022 presidential elections. We understand that only Chebukati alone had access to the tally of the presidential vote. He denied all the commissioners access to that information until he suddenly appeared before the commissioners in the late afternoon to present them with a fait accompli,” Raila said.

Yesterday, the commissioners who addressed a second press conference at Serena Hotel maintained that the results were not credible.

“We state categorically that the results of the presidential election held on August 9, 2022 declared and announced by Mr Chebukati on August 15, 2022 belongs to himself and does not represent the declaration and announcement by Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission,” they said in a statement.

They claimed the process that went into the generation of Form 34C, which Chebukati used to declare the results of the presidential election, was opaque and incapable of deserving their ownership and confidence.