Supreme Court due to rule on validity of Oct 26 poll Monday

At the conclusion of the hearing, Chief Justice David Maraga said the bench would render its verdict on the poll’s validity on Monday/MOSES MUOKI

Supreme Court due to rule on validity of Oct 26 poll Monday

The Supreme Court is set to give a ruling on the validity of the October 26 presidential election on Monday.

This follows the closure of the hearings on Thursday after two days of oral submissions during which petitioners, respondents and interested parties made submissions before the court.

The petitions were made by former Kilome Member of Parliament Harun Mwau, and activists Njonjo Mue and Khelef Khalifa.

The three petitioners cited non-adherence to the Constitution as the ground upon which they sought the nullification of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in last month’s poll.

Both President Kenyatta and IEBC were listed as respondents in the petitions while Thirdway Alliance presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot and Attorney General Githu Muigai were enjoined as interested parties on Tuesday.

During oral submissions at the court on Thursday, President Kenyatta’s lawyers told the bench that the violence witnessed in Nyanza during the October 26 presidential election was choreographed by the National Super Alliance to intentionally sabotage the poll.

His lead counsel Fred Ngatia told the court the violence was meant to intimidate and scare off potential voters from exercising their democratic right to vote with a view to delegitimise a democratic process as ordered by the Supreme Court when it nullified the August 8 presidential election.

“Regrettably, through localised insurgency, a state of unprecedented insecurity was experienced in the region and those who didn’t want to vote became the beneficiaries of that mayhem,” Ngatia submitted before the top court in the land.

Elius Mutuma, Aukot’s layer made similar submissions before the court reaffirming the argument that the need for fresh nomination did not arise.

During the session, the Attorney General asked the court to resist an attempt by NASA to subvert the rule of law through political gimmicks.

Githu Muigai said NASA deliberately schemed to stir violence and confusion in Nyanza. “If it is alleged that there was violence, we must start with the question who instigated this violence?” he queried.

If the election is upheld, President Kenyatta will be sworn-in on the first Tuesday; seven days following the court’s decision – November 28 – according to Article 141(2)(b).

If the court invalidates the election, the country will go back to the ballot in 60 days to elect a new leader in accordance with Article 140(3).