The 9 Petitions Filed On The Supreme Court Table

By Lynnet Okumu / Published August 25, 2022 | 3:56 pm

KEY POINTS

The 9 petitions were filed by Azimio La Umoja – One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua, activists Okiya Omtatah, Khelef Khalifa, David Kairuki Ngari, Moses Kuria, John Njoroge Kamau, Reuben Kigame, John Githongo and lobby group Youth Advocacy Africa.

Seven judges have until September 5 to render a decision after nine petitions were filed at the Supreme Court on Monday contesting the victory of president-elect William Ruto in the recently concluded elections.

Petition By Raila Odinga and Martha Karua

Azimio La Umoja candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate, Martha Karua, filed a petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election at the Supreme Court of Kenya on Monday, claiming the election was manipulated to favor President-elect William Ruto.

According to them, the August 9 General Election was conducted in a manner that was in disregarded the constitution, rule of law and national values, principles of good governance, and the lawful authority of the Court.

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

On Monday 22^nd August 2022, the Azimio la Umoja brigade delivered a truck full of evidence to show the malpractices, disregard of the constitution, and other irregularities they claim marred the presidential election.

Raila Odinga and Martha Karua want the Supreme Court to nullify the election results announced by Chebukati and that IEBC should be directed to tally and verify the results and declare Raila and Karua as the President and Deputy President-elect.

Petition by Okiya Omtatah

Busia Senator and activist Okiya Omtatah has lodged a petition challenging the validity of the presidential results of the August 9 General Election.

In his petition which was presented to the Supreme Court on Monday 22^nd August 2022, Omtatah wants the presidential elections quashed as well as the declaration of the president-elect and the deputy president-elect arguing that none of the candidates who contested for the top seat attained 50 percent plus one threshold as required by the constitution.

Petition by Khelef Khalifa

Also, an activist, Khelef Khalifa petition argues that IEBC failed to secure its system making it vulnerable to infiltration and manipulation which had the potential of altering the general election results.

According to the submissions which contained sections of the KMPG report, he noted the findings of 481, 711 duplicated registrations stating that by the close of the audit in June 30 percent translating to 144,677 had not been deactivated.

The petitioner notes that 487,711 duplicated persons were enough to narrow the margin between the top two and alter the numbers negating the 50 percent plus one threshold.

Petition by John Githongo

Mr. Githongo alleges that rogue techies were granted access to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) systems and manipulated form 34As coming from polling stations. His sworn testimony claims that this was done to favor President-elect William Ruto.

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

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

Petition by Rueben Kigame

After being locked out of the presidential contest on August 9, gospel musician and politician Reuben Kigame presented a petition seeking to have the election outcome nullified.

In his petition, the aspirant argues that IEBC deprived him and other independent candidates in the country of their civil and political rights.

Kigame accused IEBC, the first respondent in the petition, of declining to clear independent candidates despite a High Court ruling that ordered the inclusion of Kigame on the ballot.

In his prayers, the petitioner has requested the seven-judge bench to execute its mandate to observe, promote, protect, and fulfill the fundamental rights as entrenched in the Bill of Rights.

Petition by John Njoroge Kamau

John Njoroge, who is a voter, has filed a presidential petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the election of Deputy President William Ruto as Kenya’s fifth President.

According to Kamau, IEBC deliberately set out to bungle the presidential election from the time it issued the tender for printing ballot papers which resulted in a mix-up of voting materials in certain areas.

In his petition, Kamau is seeking an order directing the IEBC to organize and conduct a fresh presidential election.

He is also seeking a declaration that Chebukati committed election irregularities and should be investigated for possible criminal culpability.

He claims Ruto and Gachagua were not validly declared as President and Deputy President.

Petition by Youth Advocacy Africa

Youth Advocacy Africa through Peter Kirika raised the issue of the voter register, electronic identification of voters, integrity of the technology employed by IEBC in the conduct of the elections, and the procedure used in tallying the presidential election as some of the issues that affected the results.

The other petition was filed by Juliah Nyokabi, Joseph Mutua, and Simon Njenga through lawyer Kibe Mungai who argued that the failure by IEBC to provide arrangements for a special category of citizens to vote compromised the integrity of the electoral process.

Mungai claimed that millions of voters could not participate in the election due to the poor system put in place by the commission which made them take advantage to announce results that do not reflect the will of the people.

Petition by David Kariuki Ngari

David Kariuki filed a petition against IEBC, its chairperson Wafula Chebukati and five others.

According to David, the process of tallying, verifying, and declaration of presidential election results at the National Tallying Center, Bomas of Kenya, was a corporate function vested in the commission and not in the chairperson of IEBC as an individual.

He claims that the chairperson violated sections 39,44 and 44A of the Elections Act, which is a serious affront to the constitutional guardrails.

Among other things, the petitioner, therefore, seeks the court to pronounce the elections conducted on the 9^th of August 2022, invalid.

Petition By Moses Kuria

Chama Cha Kazi (CCK) party leader Moses Kuria and former Mbeere South MP Geoffrey King’ang’i have filed a petition at the Supreme Court seeking dismissal of Azimio leader Raila Odinga’s suit on the election of William Ruto as president.

In the petition, Kuria and King’ang’i want the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Martha Koome to dismiss the case filed by the Azimio presidential candidate and his running mate Martha Karua over the violence that occurred at Bomas of Kenya during the tallying of votes.

The duo insists that the Apex Court should not entertain the Azimio petition against Ruto and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The petitions are likely to be consolidated into one petition during the pre-trial conference.

Upon being served, the respondents will have four days to file and serve the petitioners with their responses to issues raised. This will be on Saturday, August 27, 2022.

Thereafter, the petitioners will file and serve their rejoinder to the responses filed by the respondents on August 28.

A day later August 29, parties will be given time to file interlocutory applications. On Tuesday, August 30, parties will have time to file and serve responses to interlocutory applications.

The following day on August 31, individuals interested in being enjoined in the petitions as friends of the court, otherwise known as amicus curiae in legal jargon, will file their applications and serve the parties.

On Thursday, September 1, the Supreme Court will hold the pre-trial conference. After the pre-trial conference, the court will begin hearing the petition the following day September 2 and deliver its verdict on September 5, 2022, fourteen days after the petition was filed.