Okiya Omtatah revives petition over presidential election

Activist Okiya Omtatah has written to Chief Justice David Maraga protesting the delay of a petition he filed last year contesting the repeat poll.

The petition by Mr Omtatah was among five others that were filed at the Supreme Court over the repeat presidential election, which was held on October 26.

PETITION

The court, however, consolidated two election petitions, which contested the outcome of the repeat poll, and ordered other cases removed from the hearing list because they were not urgent.

But on Monday, Mr Omtatah wrote to the CJ stating that given the weighty constitutional issues that needed to be determined, the matter should be urgently considered for hearing.

He said that he made an informal inquiry about the matter and was informed that it was heard and determined together with the consolidated case by Mr Harun Mwau, Njonjo Mue and Khelef Khalifa. He termed the response as “utter shocking and unacceptable”.

“It is important to keep in mind that I deliberately filed a constitutional petition and not an election petition, since according to me, no election known in Kenyan law was held on October 26, 2017 and I saw absolutely no value in contesting the merits or otherwise of the outcome of an activity or exercise that was contemptuously conducted outside the confines of both the Constitution and national legislation,” he said.

NOMINATIONS

Mr Omtatah wants the Supreme Court to determine whether the withdrawal of National Super Alliance (Nasa) candidate Raila Odinga on October 10, 2017 from the repeat presidential election cancelled the poll.

He further argued that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should have conducted fresh nominations before organising fresh elections.

The matter of nominations was, however, dealt with by the court during the ruling on the consolidated election petition.

The court said there was no need to conduct fresh nominations because the September 1 ruling annulled the outcome of the election, and not there entire process.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the consolidated petition, paving way for the swearing-in President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto for their second term.

RAILA ODINGA

Other than the issue of nominations, the court also dealt with the matter of withdrawal.

The court, while acknowledging that Mr Odinga’s letter to IEBC for withdrawal and public announcement was valid, said the elections could have been postponed and the Nasa leader could not be forced to contest in the repeat poll.

The activist also wants the court to confirm whether the IEBC complied with the orders of the court concerning the irregularities and illegalities that resulted in the nullification of the August 8, presidential election.

He filed the case on October 27 and on October 30, the court directed him to serve the petition together with written submissions to the respondents by November 2.

The court also directed the respondents file and serve the responses with written submission by November 7.

When the matter was mentioned before the Deputy Registrar on November 10, he confirmed that all parties had complied with the directions.

ELECTION

Mr Omtatah had initially filed the case before the repeat poll was held but High Court Judge John Mativo dismissed the petition, stating that the matter can only be resolved by the Supreme Court.

The activist argued that the abandonment of the repeat poll by Nasa candidates required the IEBC and its chairman Wafula Chebukati to cancel the repeat election, conduct fresh nominations and organise a fresh presidential election within 60 days of October 10, 2017.

He said the crisis created a situation that required the court to clarify the law and pronounce itself on the validity of the fresh presidential elections.