NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 18 — Following Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga’s rejection of the Presidential results declaration on Monday where William Ruto was named President-Elect, focus now shifts to the Supreme Court.
The Azimio leader is yet to lodge any petition so far but during his rejection speech on Tuesday, he indicated that the coalition will use all the constitutional and legal options available to them to overturn Ruto’s victory.
“I do not want to fully address our strategies going forward but… we will be pursuing all constitutional and legal options available to us,” Odinga said.
If the petition is filed, it will be heard and determined by a seven-judge -bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Other Supreme Court Judges are Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear and determine the petition within 14 days from the date of filing.
Any person wishing to contest the presidential election results has seven days within which to file a petition after the date of declaration of the results, meaning, the Azimio Coalition and any other person intending to contest has until Monday, August 22, to do so.
If no petition is filed at the Supreme Court, President-Elect Ruto and Deputy President-Elect Rigathi Gachagua will be sworn in on August 30, being the first Tuesday following the fourteenth day after declaration of results.
Should a petition filed be ruled in their favour, the two will be sworn in on the first Tuesday following the seventh day after the Supreme Court’s verdict.
If the petition is successful and the Court nullifies the presidential election as was the case in the first 2017 petition, then the IEBC will have to organize a fresh election within 60 days.
Odinga who lost his fifth bid for the top job to Deputy President Ruto dismissed the result claiming bias by the electoral commission.
His team is banking on a division among commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after a faction led by Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera disapproved the outcome saying the agency had been compromised.
Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya claimed IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati who is the Returning Officer for the presidential election declared a tally that translated to a cumulative 100.01 per cent, a notion that turned out to be inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the percentages which had been rounded off.
Chekukati later issued a statement s5aying the Chebukati-led dissidents bolted out after he declined their request to ‘moderate’ results to force a re-run.
No presidential poll outcome has gone uncontested in Kenya since 2002, and Odinga says he was already cheated of victory in the 2007, 2013 and 2017 elections.
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