Presidential Election Petition: 9 Issues The Supreme Court Will Consider To Determine Outcome Of The Case

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug, 30 – The Supreme Court of Kenya convened Tuesday and laid out nine issues that will determine the outcome of the presidential election petition challenging the declaration of United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) William Ruto as president-elect.

Chief Justice Martha Koome laid out the fundamental issues as the legal counsel from both sides present their cases before the country’s apex court.

Koome said the nine issues the judges will consider include:

1. Whether the technology deployed by the IEBC for the conduct of the 2022 general elections met the standards of integrity, verifiability, security and transparency to guarantee accurate and verifiable results.
2. Whether there was interference with the uploading and transmission of Forms 34A from the polling stations to the IEBC Public Portal.
3. Whether there was a difference between Forms 34A uploaded on the IEBC Public Portal and the Forms 34A received at the National Tallying Centre, and Forms 34A issued to the Agents at the Polling Stations.
4. Whether the postponement of Gubernatorial Elections in Kakamega and Mombasa Counties, Parliamentary elections in Kitui Rural, Kacheliba Rongai and Pokot South Constituencies and electoral wards in Nyaki West in North Imenti Constituency and Kwa Njenga in Embakasi South Constituency resulted in voter suppression to the detriment of the Petitioners in Petition No. E005 of 2022.
5. Whether there were unexplainable discrepancies between the votes cast for presidential candidates and other elective positions.
6. Whether the IEBC carried out the verification, tallying, and declaration of results in accordance with Article 138 (3) (c) and 138 (10) of the Constitution
7. Whether the declared President-elect attained 50%+1 vote of all the votes cast in accordance with Article 138 (4) of the Constitution.
8. Whether there were irregularities and illegalities of such magnitude as to affect the final result of the Presidential Election.
9. What reliefs and orders can the Court issue?

The case kicks off eight days after the petition challenging the outcome of the polls was filed by Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga.

Earlier in the morning the court also laid the ground rules on how the proceedings would take place as well as how counsels should carry themselves out.

Parties and advocates were advised to observe punctuality to the time set for the start of proceedings, and the time allocated on the screen while being urged to be respectful and adhere to the rules of the court.

They were also directed to conduct themselves with decorum and respect the dignity of the court. Offensive language was also not permitted.

Discussion of the merits of the case by parties or counsels out of the court was prohibited.

While making their submissions, the court said that time unspent will belong to the court and the counsel will not be allowed to ‘donate’ it even as an extension of time was also not permitted.

Those involved in the petition were also advised to stick to the main topics of interest in order to save time.

Even though movement in the court is frown upon, teams are allowed to take health breaks though they will not stop proceedings.