Two civil society organisations, the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness and the Caucus for Women Leadership, filed the appeal asking the court to specifically declare that elections should be held latest by October 14, 2012.
They asked the court to declare that any extension of the date should only be possible with an amendment to the Constitution an appeal that was consequently consolidated with another one Mwau filed.
But the civil society groups had to cross a legal hurdle; they were not parties to the High Court case.
The lobby groups argued that although they were not party to the High Court cases, they had constitutional rights and authority under the Court of Appeal rules to file the appeal as entities interested in political and development matters of the country, including the elections.
“We felt the decision was wrong and the court had misdirected itself and the counsel who appeared in it may not have done justice to the question determined,” said their lawyer, Stephen Mwenesi.
They submitted that on the second Tuesday of August 2012, all MPs will cease to hold office and further argued that the Constitution requires that elections be held within 60 days, a date falling on October 14, 2012.
But Attorney General Githu Muigai submitted that it was not in the public interest to alter the March 4 date.
On their part the IEBC, through lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee, supported the High Court, arguing that there was nothing wrong in giving two options for the election dates.
Law scholar Yash Pal Ghai, who appeared as a “friend of the court” argued that though there was a popular expectation of elections in December, there was nothing in the law that fixed that period.
