NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 8 — The Court of Appeal has ordered the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to use the electronic voter register as the primary identification mechanism in Tuesday’s General Election.
A three-judge bench of the court gave the directive on Monday suspending an earlier High Court decision that allowed what appeared to be an unchecked use of the printed/manual register.
The appellate court decision arose from an urgent suit filed by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) which is fielding Deputy President William Ruto as its presidential candidate.
“Upon careful consideration of the appeal, we are of the view that appellant has made a case for the grant of the orders of a stay of the entire judgement delivered on August 4, 2022, pending the hearing and determination of the intended appeal,” Justices Fred Ochieng, Luka Kimaru and Paul Mwaniki Gachoka directed.
In the interim, the judges said IEBC can rely direction issued by the Supreme Court in the 2017 presidential petition by the National Super Alliance (NASA) when the court made a case for the use of technology to identify voter unless a complete failure of the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) is reported.
The Court of Appeal decision is seen as a major win for Ruto’s camp with his archrival Raila Odinga’s side having advocated for a manual register.
More to follow…
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