William Ruto was declared the winner by the chairman of the Electoral Commission but Raila Odinga’s camp says the election was marred by irregularities. He immediately rejected the results and filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday to challenge them. The various stakeholders had until Saturday, August 27 to submit their responses to this appeal. And the affidavits were numerous.
With our correspondent in Nairobi, Albane Thirouard
William Ruto’s team of lawyers said they were ready for his defense when filing their counter-arguments in the Supreme Court. In his written statement, the outgoing vice-president affirms that the election was free and fair. And asks the Court to dismiss the recourse of the Odinga campwhich he calls ” tragicomedy “. Ruto accuses his opponent of ” provoke national crises » for 30 years, in « constantly challenging the results “, he says.
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On the side of Raila Odingahis attorneys believe that the reported results are neither ” complete “, ” neither exact », « neither verifiable “.
The Divided Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission, divided since the announcement of the results, has also filed its counter-arguments. In its appeal, the Odinga camp particularly targeted the President of the Commission, Wafula Chebukati, accusing him of having sought to “ overthrow the constitutional order “. He describes it as “ lying the charges against him. And in return denounces political pressure which aimed to push him to modify the results in favor of Odinga by provoking a second round. A version also defended by another commissioner.
The dissident members of the Commission, in separate statements, denounced a lack of transparency on the part of Chebukati, believing that he had been sidelined throughout the electoral process.
These different versions will be examined by the Supreme Court next week. The verdict will be delivered no later than September 5.