Richard Kagoe
Tuesday August 30, 2022
There are nine petitions challenging William Ruto’s win
Kenya’s Supreme Court is set to hold a pre-trial conference on petitions seeking to invalidate the presidential election results.
Nine petitions were lodged last week seeking to overturn William Ruto’s win.
The conference will frame issues of determination that will be ruled on by Monday next week.
They include whether the electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati violated the law by declaring Mr Ruto the winner of the election.
It will also consider the divisions in the commission, with one faction seeking to have the election nullified and another maintaining that it should be upheld.
The conference will be attended by seven judges who will preside over the petition arising from the 9 August elections.
The judges will deliver preliminary rulings over various issues before presiding over the pre-trial conference.
They include a plea by Mr Ruto seeking to remove individual electoral commission officials as respondents in a petition filed by his opponent Raila Odinga.
The judges will determine whether to grant orders for scrutiny and counting of votes as sought by Mr Odinga’s coalition.
They will also rule on applications by several individuals and entities seeking to be enjoined as friends of the court.
The proceedings will be televised live to allow the public follow arguments and minimise the number of people physically present in the courtroom.
Mr Odinga rejected the election result saying the announcement was unlawful. He cited divisions among electoral commissioners and failure by the chairman to explain how he arrived at the final tally.
Mr Chebukati declared Mr Ruto as Kenya’s president-elect with 7.1m votes against Mr Odinga's 6.9m votes.