IEBC bosses want say in choosing of lawyers
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati gives a press conference at Bomas of Kenya on August 11, 2017. IEBC officials are battling in selecting the lawyers who will represent the agency and the chairman in a petition filed by Nasa. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The directorate of legal and public affairs was pushing to be granted exclusive power to appoint the lawyers.
- A source said Mr Muite will be the lead counsel in defending the Commission in the case filed by Nasa.
Behind the scenes, top Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials were battling to have a say in the appointment of lawyers who will represent them in the petition lodged by the National Super Alliance (Nasa) challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory.
The petition, which was filed on August 18 by Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, lists both the IEBC and its chairman Wafula Chebukati, who is the presidential returning officer, as the first and second respondents, respectively.
NEW LAWYERS
But in identifying the panel of lawyers that will represent them in the petition, an IEBC contact spoke of a vicious battle as officials seek to have a say on who should be picked for the job.
Information that Sunday Nation has obtained indicated that while the commissioners wanted a fresh team of lawyers who were not involved in a similar petition in 2013, the directorate of legal and public affairs was pushing for the familiar group of advocates.
In the 2013 presidential election petition, the lawyers IEBC relied on were Mr Aurelio Rebelo, Paul Nyamodi, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Lucy Kambuni, Nani Mungai and Kamau Karori, among others.
LEGAL BILL
After the 14-day assignment, the lawyers slapped IEBC with a Sh380 million legal bill for their services to the consternation of the public and even the Auditor General Edward Ouko who queried the nature of the agreements they had with IEBC.
The directorate of legal and public affairs, Sunday Nation learnt, was pushing to be granted exclusive power to appoint the lawyers, something the commissioners were reportedly uneasy with as they also want to have a say on who represents the commission and Mr Chebukati.
Two of the 2013 group of lawyers were spotted along the corridors at IEBC’s Anniversary Towers’ offices on Thursday, a day after Nasa announced that they would be challenging the presidential election outcome, reinforcing the belief that lobbying had started in earnest.
LUCRATIVE
The same group of lawyers was also spotted at the Bomas of Kenya where the IEBC’s National Tallying Centre was.
Former commission CEO James Oswago had told Sunday Nation that “IEBC is a lucrative source of legal work and the external counsel hired by IEBC entrench themselves and possibly make the commission see only their side of argument”.
“One of the problems IEBC has had since the time of boundaries delimitation has been a lack of a clear criteria of enlisting external counsel in the commission’s panel of lawyers and assigning them.
"This has resulted in a few lawyers entrenching themselves and holding IEBC captive,” Mr Oswago said.
PETITION
On the night President Kenyatta was declared the winner of the 2017 General Election, Mr Karori was among a pool of IEBC lawyers seen assisting in the process.
He was overseeing the signing of Forms 34C by chief agents and other administrative works on the declaration of the results.
Other lawyers who have been involved in the cases brought up against the Commission in the run-up to the elections are Senior Counsel Paul Muite, Prof PLO Lumumba, Mr Nyamodi and Mr Edwin Mukele.
A source said Mr Muite will be the lead counsel in defending the Commission in the case filed by Nasa.
NASA LAWYERS
On the Nasa side, it is not clear who will lead the process and the lawyers who will represent the coalition.
But the lawyers who were in court during the filing of the case include Siaya Senator James Orengo, his Busia counterpart Amos Wako, head of Mr Odinga’s legal team Paul Mwangi, Mr Otiende Amollo, Mr Jackson Awele, Mathare MP-elect Anthony Oluoch, Mr Peter Kaluma (MP, Homa Bay Town), Daniel Maanzo (MP, Makueni) and Millie Odhiambo (MP, Suba North).
Nasa principals – Mr Odinga, Mr Musyoka, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, Mr Moses Wetang’ula and Mr Isaac Ruto – are set to meet today (Sunday) to agree on the list of lawyers who will handle the petition.
“Jim (Orengo) and Paul (Mwangi) are working on a shortlist of lawyers, which they will share with the principals tomorrow,” a source within the Nasa legal team said.
UHURU'S TEAM
Jubilee has had Mr Fred Ngatia, Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi, Mr Tom Macharia and Ms Mellisa Ngania.
It is not clear who will lead the team but Mr Ngatia was present at Bomas of Kenya during the tallying process.
He also effectively represented the President in 2013 and has been appearing on behalf of Jubilee in the cases the party has participated in.
