Petition lodged to bar win declaration
A petition was yesterday lodged in court seeking to bar the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati from announcing presidential elections results until Forms 34A and 34B are made public through the commission’s portal.
In documents filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) in line with Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi Ltd at the High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Division, two civil society groups sought orders to prevent the electoral agency and Chebukati from declaring the presidential results after the final tabulation at the Bomas of Kenya.
“A conservatory order be issued barring IEBC and it’s chair Wafula Chebukati from announcing the results of the presidential elections to be conducted August 9, 2022 before forms 34 A and 34 B from the constitution returning officer are made available to the public through the public portal,” the petitioners sought.
Through lawyer Alvin Kosgei, the petitioners want the orders issued on grounds that although the IEBC is set to conduct today’s election, the commission’s conduct drawing from the 2013 and 2017 General Elections render it unlikely that they will comply with the requirements to avail the said forms public vide a portal accessible to all as required by the law.
The civil groups further state there is little evidence ills of 2017 General Elections have been rectified, noting the results of the KPMG audit exposed the IEBC’s register for having millions of ghost voters.
“That as it stands, there is little evidence that the ills of the 2017 General Elections have been rectified noting the results of the KPMG audit that was recently conducted and it would be necessary for this court to immediately safeguard the sanctity of the vote by directing the respondents to implement the provisions section 39 in order to engender transparency in the forthcoming elections,” they argue.
