BBI fate in hands of seven judge Bench after parties submit
The fate of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) now lies in the hands of a seven-j judge Bench of the Court of Appeal after all parties put up a spirited fight persuading the court to rule in their favour.
Appeals filed by the Attorney General, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), President Uhuru Kenyatta, ODM leader Raila Odinga and BBI Secretariat took one week to be heard.
The Judges sat from morning to late evening in a dome set up for them outside the Supreme Court grounds and only took a half-an-hour tea break and one hour lunch break.
Court of Appeal President Daniel Musinga was presiding over the Bench consisting of Justices Roselyne Nambuye, Hannah Okwengu, Patrick Kiage, Gatembu Kairu, Fatuma Sichale and Francis Tuiyot, who was recently promoted from the High Court.
During the final day of submissions on Friday, Court of President Musinga announced that the bench will deliver the Judgment on August 20.
Prof Githu Muigai who represents IEBC pleaded with the court to give an early date because of the IEBC timelines they have the court said it would not change the date.
“I thank all the parties who have been in court battling out since Tuesday this week seeking to persuade the court to rule in their favour. The court will deliver its Judgment on August 20,” ruled Justice Musinga.
The court had given the appellants two hours each to argue their case and the respondents the same amount of time.
The proponents were represented by a battery of senior lawyers who passionately argued their case in two days while the proponents had a mixture of young lawyers and senior lawyers.
The case had over 20 active parties who have each filed submissions and a list of authorities that the judges will have to go through.
