Azimio’s petition was doomed to fail – Mutula Kilonzo Jnr
Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior has defended the decision by the Supreme Court to dismiss a petition by the Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya coalition challenging William Ruto's victory.
Speaking at a funeral service in Mbooni, the governor said the petition lacked merit, something he saw even before the case was lodged at the apex court.
The county boss told the mourners he had warned Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo, who was among Azimio’s battery of lawyers, that the petition was doomed to fail.
“I told Maanzo before the petition that they will lose that case, even before they went to court. If the man who was leading us had already ditched the party and moved elsewhere, how were we supposed to win the case?” Kilonzo said in an apparent reference to his predecessor Kivutha Kibwana's defection to Ruto's Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
“If we did not have agents, how were we supposed to win? We were beaten squarely in broad daylight.”
He pledged to work closely with the senator to ensure the Kamba people are represented in the incoming administration.
"We told Kamba people they won't be out of the government again unfortunately we are out but we should now plan what next for our people to benefit," Kilonzo added.
A seven-judge bench on Monday, September 5, threw out Raila Odinga's petition challenging the election of Ruto as the country's fifth president, paving way for his swearing-in.
In a judgement delivered by a seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, the court ruled that the Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader was validly elected in the elections conducted on August 9.
Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua will be inaugurated on Tuesday, September 13.
