IEBC urges Supreme Court to hasten release of full judgment

Supreme Court Judges on September 1, 2017 when they announced their decision to nullify the August 8 presidential election. IEBC now wants the court to speed up delivery of full judgement to enable it prepare well for the repeat poll on October 17. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Supreme Court on September 1said the full judgment would be out within the 21 days stipulated in law.
  • The judgment will help IEBC know the exact problems that a majority of the court’s judges identified.
  • Judges said there were irregularities and illegal actions in the transmission of the results.

The electoral commission has asked the Supreme Court to speed up the delivery of the full judgment of its decision to annul the results of the August 8 presidential election.

In a letter by its lawyer Paul Nyamodi, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said the full judgment would guide it as it prepares for the election it has scheduled for October 17.

The Supreme Court announced its determination of the petition last Friday, September 1, and said the full judgment would be out within the 21 days stipulated in law.

“The reasons for the court’s decision are instructive to our client in its preparation for the fresh election ordered by the court,” Mr Nyamodi said in the letter to the Supreme Court registrar dated Monday, September 4, 2017.

REASONS

“Duly instructed by our client, we write to kindly request the Supreme Court of Kenya to give its reasons for its said decision in the shortest time possible as its reasons will inform the manner in which the fresh election directed by the court will be organised and conducted by our client,” said Mr Nyamodi.

The judgment is understood to be crucial for the IEBC as it will be expected to detail the exact problems that a majority of the court’s judges identified and used to state that there were irregularities and illegal actions in the transmission of the results.

Thirdway Alliance presidential candidate Dr Ekuru Aukot has also sought the interpretation of the Supreme Court on whether the fresh election should be limited to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga as stated by the IEBC.

Dr Aukot garnered 27,311 votes, conceded defeat, but then joined the petition filed by Mr Odinga as an interested party.

STAND-OFF

There has been a stand-off between the chairman of the commission, Wafula Chebukati, and a section of the commissioners after the appointment of a special team to manage the fresh election.

Political parties have also criticised the appointments, with both Nasa and Jubilee claiming that members of the team are partisan.

Jubilee named some whom it said were partisan while Nasa said some of the members of the team were involved in the problems that bedevilled the transmission of the results.

Nasa has also questioned the decision to set October 17 as the date of the election.

The commission is Thursday scheduled to meet both Nasa and Jubilee.