Deputy CJ Mwilu (left), CJ Maraga and judge Ibrahim at the Supreme Court/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 29 – One the judges currently hearing the petition challenging the presidential election outcome at the Supreme Court, Mohammed Ibrahim, is absent after being taken ill.
Chief Justice David Maraga who is heading the seven-judged bench stated that Ibrahim was being attended to by a doctor.
Despite this, Maraga allowed the proceedings to continue citing tight timelines and lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi who is representing President Uhuru Kenyatta started making submissions.
“Because of the pressure of time, we have to go on without him so we will start as we planned yesterday,” he stated.
Abdullahi described the petition by NASA leader Raila Odinga as science fiction as he sought to disprove it.
“This is a mockery of the judicial system and we will prove to you that this petition is based on a piece of science fiction. Whereas Article 140 and 163 3 (a) of the Constitution, provide both the jurisdictional and procedural platform for invalidating a presidential election, where can this court find it a substantive law to invalidate this election,” he stated.
President Kenyatta’s legal team comprising lawyers Fred Ngatia, Abdullahi and Ken Ogeto have three hours to argue for the dismissal of Odinga’s case.
Once they conclude, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Attorney General Githu Muigai will have 20 minutes each to argue on points of law.
In the evening at 5pm, a team appointed by Registrar of the Supreme Court to look at the electoral management system is expected to present its report to the court.
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