Judges George Kimondo, Alfred Mabeya and Hedwig Ong’undi/CFM
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 21 – The High Court on Friday dismissed a case filed by the National Super Alliance agitating for the postponement of the August 8 General Election should the electronic system of identifying voters and transmitting results fail.
A bench comprising George Kimondo, Alfred Mabeya and Hedwig Ong’undi declined to grant the orders sought by NASA on the grounds that it would set the country down a perilous path.
“The court had to consider the impact in case if the electronic system fails. The lack of an alternative would throw the entire election into jeopardy and imperil our democracy.”
The court also agreed with IEBC that such an action would disenfranchise the voter and, “run counter to the political rights of the citizens as enshrined in the constitution.”
Arguing on behalf of the Wafula Chebukati led commission, lawyers PLO Lumumba and Paul Nyamodi had asked the court to dismiss the case/CFM
NASA wanted the court to compel the IEBC to exclusively use the electronic system on polls day; accusing it of failing to put in place a complementary one at least 60 days to the General Election.
Contrary to NASA’s claims, the court held that IEBC has indeed put in place a complementary system whose regulations were approved by Parliament which represents Kenyans.
“We hold that IEBC has put up a complementary system for identification of voters and transmission of results,” they ruled.
In addition, the court held that in putting in place regulations for the complementary system, there was public participation.
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