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Another IEBC lawyer Aurelio Rebello also dismissed allegations put forth by petitioners Africa Centre for Open Governance and Prime Minster Raila Odinga, saying that if the election process was flawed,/ALI ALALE

Kenya

Raila’s case does not pass test – IEBC

Another IEBC lawyer Aurelio Rebello also dismissed allegations put forth by petitioners Africa Centre for Open Governance and Prime Minster Raila Odinga, saying that if the election process was flawed,/ALI ALALE

Another IEBC lawyer Aurelio Rebello also dismissed allegations put forth by petitioners Africa Centre for Open Governance and Prime Minster Raila Odinga, saying that if the election process was flawed,/ALI ALALE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Thursday afternoon challenged the petitioners questioning the electoral process to provide evidence and strong proof of the allegations put forward.

IEBC’s counsel Mohammed Nyaoga during his time in court said the petitioners had made very serious allegations of conspiracy, corruption and bribery – which without proof – cannot be taken seriously.

“The petitioner has a burden of proof. From the bits and pieces you have been given by the petitioner from the unsupported conclusions of corruption, stealing, conspiracy even of robbery… have you been given any evidence to support these allegations? The answer is a resounding no! A very high degree of proof is required,” he contested.

According to the lawyer, the petitioner had not yet given evidence to prove the allegations put forward yet they can seriously affect the electoral body mandated to impartially and democratically conduct and oversee elections in the country.

Nyaoga informed the court that the arguments put forward by the petitioners cannot be used to invalidate the entire electoral process.

Another IEBC lawyer Aurelio Rebello also dismissed allegations put forth by petitioners Africa Centre for Open Governance and Prime Minster Raila Odinga, saying that if the election process was flawed, Kenyans would not have turned up in such big numbers to register and also vote.

Citing the 86 percent voter turnout, the lawyer deemed that it was as a result of confidence that Kenyans have with IEBC that they persevered the long queues during the voting day to cast their ballots.

“Millions of Kenyans stood out to register as voters. Millions went to vote notwithstanding the long queues or attempts by some people to disrupt the elections. All these events establish the election was free and fair. The standards by which you judge whether the election was free and fair is by looking to the participation of the people, candidates and people going to vote,” he argued.

He further asked the court to analyse the report done by the Elections Observation Group (ELOG) which observed that the elections were conducted democratically and that in fact the results were as reflected by the IEBC.

Rebello also said there were eight presidential candidates in the race and only one candidate was unsatisfied with the process and the results announced by IEBC.

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“Let’s spare a thought for those who stood for all the other positions. In so far the presidency is concerned, we had eight candidates. None of the other eight candidate has even filed a petition let alone condemn IEBC,” he asserted.

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