By Roselyne Obala

Nairobi, Kenya: Prime Minister Raila Odinga suffered a setback after the Supreme Court dismissed his ‘late’ affidavits during the pre-trial conference.

On Tuesday, Justice Philip Tunoi, part of the six-member Bench, ruled after considering arguments from the respondents and petitioner, Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

He took into account that parties have a duty to comply with the respective timelines, adding that extra time will be a burden imposed on any party.

He, therefore, ordered that Raila’s ‘late 839 page affidavit’ be expunged from the court records.

“The petitioner’s affidavit sworn on March 22, together with annexes, which include the other affidavits, be expunged. The petitioner will bear the costs of objection proceedings relating to the reply,” he ruled.

He noted that Raila’s lead counsel George Oraro’s submission was made reluctantly.

“It was without any application to do so,” he said, arguing it was prudent to file the case before the pre-trial to allow for reply.

Justice Tunoi said the respondents, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, its chairman Issack Hassan, President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, upon being served the petition, filed their respective replying affidavits.

He said having considered the respondents’ arguments and submissions they also discovered other annexed affidavits.

“Records show further six affidavits filed by the petition in response,” he stated.

Evade payment

He, therefore, said the affidavits could not stand on their own. “They are not independent affidavits filed to stand on their own as evidence in the particular proceedings. We would understand if they were annexed as evidence of that affidavit,” he noted adding such affidavits evade payment of filing.

And Mr Oraro immediately applied for leave to obtain orders for production of documents.

But Tunoi argued this could not be granted for additional evidence as the respondents stated they are unable to respond within the next available time before the hearing starts.

“Without limiting the generality of  the rules, it is mandatory for all parties to comply with requirement,” said the judge.

He said they are bound by rules and especially because this case has drawn national interest.

Tunoi stated that the petitioner had contended they did not ask for particulars earlier, saying IEBC had assured that the manual tallying was accurate.