The Supreme Court Monday afternoon upheld the election of William Samoei Ruto as Kenya’s fifth president, summing up the meteoric rise of a man who defied his boss and the sitting administration to be the country’s youngest Head of State.
The Chief Justice Martha Koome-led Bench unanimously threw out a petition by Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition candidate Raila Odinga, who argued the declaration of Dr Ruto was null and void.
Justice Koome said that the court will issue a summary, and then give the full judgment after 21 days.
The court in its considered view, found no evidence of a man in the middle server and no evidence was produced to show that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati and other IEBC staff were involved.
Justice Koome also said that the Supreme Court found no significant differences found between forms uploaded on portal and forms delivered to Bomas, at the IEBC National Tallying Centre.
“No credible evidence was given to show forms given to agents were different,” CJ Koome said.
The court also found that affidavits by two of Mr Odinga’s experts not admissible.
“There is nothing to show that Raila asked the two people to swear affidavits. We must remind counsel who appear before this court or any other court that swearing to falsehoods is a criminal offence,” she siad.
The Court also dismissed the contents of the affidavit of John Mark Githongo, adding that it may have contained falsehoods.
“No admissible evidence was presented to show that forms 34A were manipulated. The affidavits amount to double hearsay,” Justice Koome said.
On affidavit of Gacharaigu, the court said this turned out to be hot air, adding that the Kiems kit relating to Psongoiywo Primary School was presented as a manufacturer error.
CJ Koome also said that the the court failed to see how by postponing elections, IEBC was targeting voter suppression.
“The absence of any empirical data bars the court from finding that IEBC suppressed voting in Mr Odinga strongholds,” she said.
On whether there were unexplainable variances in votes cast for President and other elective positions, the Supreme Court determined that not a single document was presented by the first petition to prove ballot stuffing.
“Fraud is a serious criminal offence and it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. IEBC has provided a plausible explanation showing categories of voters like diaspora and prisons, who only vote for President. None of the parties has flagged anything so significant that it would have affected the outcome. There were no unexplainable variances in votes cast for President and other elective positions,” CJ Koome said.
On whether tallying and verification was done in accordance with the Constitution, the Supreme Court Judges having considered “all the parties submissions, we find that the power to tally and verify not in the chairperson of IEBC but the commission.”
“We also find that the Chairperson cannot arrogate the power to tally and verify the results to the elections act to the exclusion of other commissioners. That said, we however take cognizance that the four commissioners actively participated in the tallying and verification exercise from the beginning until just before declaration of the final results by the Chairperson,” CJ Koome said.
Source – Nation Africa
