NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 – The Supreme Court has struck out a petition seeking interpretation of the date for Kenya’s next General Election, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter and that the application was procedurally defective.
In a unanimous decision, a seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome held that Petition No. E020 of 2025, filed by Dr. Owiso Owiso, Khelef Khalifa, and Ashioya Biko, could not be entertained because the court’s original jurisdiction under Article 163(3)(a) of the Constitution applies only to presidential election petitions filed after an election has been conducted and results declared.
“The jurisdiction of this Court under Article 163(3)(a) of the Constitution is an exclusive original jurisdiction, only triggered after a petition under Article 140 has been filed, and any decision under Article 140(1) must be limited to determining whether a president-elect has been properly elected,” the bench ruled.
“This jurisdiction is sacred and cannot be invoked to address pre-election disputes, including determining the date of the next presidential election,” it held.
The petitioners had sought a declaration that Article 136(2)(a) requires presidential elections to be held on the second Tuesday of August in the fifth year of a presidential term, warning that uncertainty over the 2027 poll date risked plunging the country into a constitutional crisis.
‘Fatally flawed’
However, the court found the application “fatally flawed” from the outset, noting that the petitioners sought “leave to admit” a petition that had already been filed—a process the court described as “absurd” and “alien to its rules.”
“We do not know how a party can file a petition, then simultaneously seek leave to file the same petition which has already been received and admitted… any grant of leave would be superfluous,” the judges stated.
Citing a 2022 precedent in Okoiti v IEBC, the court reiterated that it cannot determine the validity of a presidential election before it is held.
Consequently, the Notice of Motion dated April 23, 2025, was struck out “for want of jurisdiction,” with each party ordered to bear its own costs.
The ruling effectively closes the door on efforts to have the Supreme Court pronounce itself on the timing of the 2027 General Election before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission formally sets the date.
