CORD’s application for forensic audit rejected

By Standard Digital Reporter

Nairobi, Kenya: The Supreme Court has rejected an application by CORD to have a forensic audit of the Information Technology  system used by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the March 4 presidential elections.

In a ruling delivered on Tuesday afternoon, the Supreme Court judges ruled that the application was time barred.

Reading the ruling on behalf of the judges, Justice Mohammed Ibrahim said the court cannot grant the order for the audit without jeorpadising the petition.

He said the applicants sought orders for IEBC to produceits complete IT infrastructure which cannot be done before the hearing of the petitions begins on Wednesday morning.

The judges added that CORD should have filed the application at the same time they filed the petition.

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CORD throughg lawyers George Oraro and Ochieng Oduol applied for IEBC to be compelled to produce all its electronic equipment used in the March 4 presidential elections.

They wanted a forensic audit done  on the commission’s IT infrastructure.

Oduol asked for logs of six servers used in transmission of results to establish whey the system collapsed.

The application was opposed by IEBC who said the exercise was time barred and would consume a lot of time.

IEBC further argued that  some of the infrastructure were handled by different contractors who were not party to the petition.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court judges rejected an application by Katiba Institute to be enjoined in the petition as  amicus curiae (friends of the court).

The judges ruled that the petition was highly contested and it had there was sufficient perception of bias and partisanship by the institute.

The judges made the rulings in presidential petitions filed against Uhuru Kenyatta

One of the petitions has been filed by Prime Minsiter Raila Odinga who is seeking several declarations from the Supreme Court, among them those that could, if granted, force fresh presidential elections through invalidation of the recent poll.