We have proved our case beyond doubt, Azimio leaders tell court

Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga flanked by Martha Karua [left] and Kalonzo Musyoka [Right] at the KICC after filling the presidential election petition seeking to nullify the results on August 22, 2022. [Silas Otieno, Standard] Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua now claim that the electoral commission has not provided any evidence to counter allegations of rigging. In their rebuttal and further submissions to counter those filed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Raila and Karua stated that the commission's chairman Wafula Chebukati had admitted to committing electoral fraud which made the results illegitimate. "We have proved our case beyond any reasonable doubt. Chebukati in his affidavit has also admitted to the facts and offences complained of and the court should just make consequential findings based on the evidence," they said through lawyer Paul Mwangi. The duo claimed that due to lack of a sound response to their petition, it leaves no doubt that Chebukati declared his own presidential results based on the admission and statement from other commissioners. In rejoinder to responses filed by President-elect William Ruto and his team, Raila and Karua stated that the DP has not addressed any issue but resorted to attacking their personalities and that his claims that they engaged in violent conduct during the tallying process are sideshows. "His allegations of State capture and use of State resources by our team are not true. If anything, he has for the past six years been using his public office in pursuit of political ambitions and has gone for non-issues instead of replying to our claims," they said. According to the Azimio petitioners, they have demonstrated that Chebukati willfully conducted a bungled election to hoodwink the citizens after admitting that he allowed himself to be unduly influenced by external authorities and powers. The two said they are basing their further submissions on the IEBC chairman's admission in his affidavit that he announced the presidential results without public announcement of results from 27 constituencies. Chebukati in his response said he was forced to declare Ruto as president-elect without public declaration of the 27 constituencies due to the limited timeline and prevailing condition at the National Tallying Centre. He however claimed that results from the 27 constituencies were ready and were to be publicly announced by commissioner Abdi Guliye before violence broke out at the Bomas of Kenya auditorium forcing him to declare Ruto as president-elect. Chebukati also stated that he met with people who tried to influence him to interfere with the final results. "Based on his own admission, it is clear that the chairman unilaterally declared the results before completion of collation and verification of all Forms 34B as read together with Forms 34A from all the constituencies to generate an accurate Form 34C," said Mwangi. They claimed that instead of responding to the main grounds challenging the presidential results, Chebukati opted for sideshows and contradicted himself in two instances where he admitted the elections were not free and fair while in another claimed the results were credible. Raila and Karua further accused IEBC of presenting to the Supreme Court figures which are totally different from what they announced during the tallying at Bomas in a desperate move to prove that Ruto garnered 50 per cent plus one vote. "We have demonstrated that Ruto did not attain 50 per cent plus one vote and instead of proving the contrary, the commission has provided totally different figures which portrays the chairman as a dishonest person not fit to occupy the high office," said Karua in her affidavit. The Azimio leaders reiterated that their evidence that the election was not done in accordance with the constitution remains uncontroverted and want the Supreme Court to rely on it to nullify the presidential polls. They based their argument on the previous court finding that the validity of an election is not dependent on the results alone but the entire electoral process. They added that by making the admissions, Chebukati had committed electoral offences, breached the Constitution and should be declared unfit to hold public office since the results he announced declaring Ruto as the winner could not be verified. "It is now incumbent upon the court to sanction the IEBC chairman for the unconstitutional, unlawful and untoward conduct that has now set the country on the precipice of a disaster," said Mwangi. He further submitted the affidavits and responses filed by four dissenting IEBC commissioners have proven beyond any doubt that the presidential election was compromised. Raila and Karua backed up their case with evidence from their witnesses to discounter those filed by IEBC, Chebukati and Ruto's team. In her affidavit to support the rejoinder, Karua swore that some of the allegations raised against them by Chebukati, Ruto and their witnesses that they tried to interfere with the results are not true and that they will prove the lies during the hearing. "In any event, their responses do not substantively and concisely address or respond to any of the issues and grounds in our petition challenging the illegal declaration of a president-elect," said Karua. Raila and Karua asked the court to grant them their prayers nullifying the presidential election on account that IEBC, Ruto and the other parties have not provided any sufficient evidence to counter theirs.

We have proved our case beyond doubt, Azimio leaders tell court

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We have proved our case beyond doubt, Azimio leaders tell court

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