Raila accuses IEBC of doctoring poll result in closing submission to court

Odinga through lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee submitted that his dispute of President Kenyatta’s win was based on more than just numbers; it was about the integrity of the whole exercise/CFM NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 29 – In his closing submissions on Tuesday, Raila Odinga who has challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election told the Supreme Court that his contestations cannot so easily be wished away.

Odinga through lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee submitted that his dispute of President Kenyatta’s win was based on more than just numbers; it was about the integrity of the whole exercise.

His lead counsel James Orengo submitted that were their case simply a “piece of science fiction,” as suggested by President Kenyatta’s counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, they wouldn’t have spent 3 hours and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission another 3 hours, trying to convince the Supreme Court that the August 8 presidential election was indeed credible.

They again questioned why as of August 14 – three days after the presidential election result was announced – the IEBC was incapable of handing over to them the presidential election results from 10,000 polling stations out of the 40,883.

“We have the Bermuda Triangle and now the Bomas Triangle where forms disappear,” Nowrojee submitted.

The delay in the availing of the forms, Nowrojee submitted, gave the IEBC time to doctor the results.

And were the results transmission system so inconsequential as suggested by the IEBC and President Kenyatta’s legal teams, Orengo submitted, so much time and effort wouldn’t have gone into developing it and putting in place safeguards to ensure its success.

The friends of the court, Attorney General Githu Muigai and Law Society of Kenya made their submissions following the petitioners’ rejoinder, on the last day of hearing.

The court thereafter adjourned to await a report on the scrutiny exercise it permitted on Monday; on the presidential election result forms and IEBC servers.

The court has until midnight Friday, to determine if the August 8 presidential election was valid or invalid; and if found invalid, order a repeat of the exercise.

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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