Supreme Court all ready for presidential petition

It is all set at the Supreme Court as it readies to receive any petition challenging the declaration of William Ruto as president-elect.

Due to the anticipated weight of the case which has kept the country all alert, the top court shifted its base from the building it presently occupies next to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to the Milimani Law Courts where the spacious ceremonial hall has been turned into a court.

For the past six days, it has been a beehive of activity within the Milimani Law Courts, with security personnel securing the place ahead of seven-day deadline for filing the petition.

The Constitution allows any person to file a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the election of the president-elect within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results.

Since Ruto was declared president-elect on Monday, any petition challenging the declaration must be filed by tomorrow Monday latest 2pm, according to the Judiciary.

Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua yesterday, in a meeting with religious leaders, confirmed they are moving to the apex court to challenge Ruto's win.

"We don't want violence to erupt in Kenya. We will fight for justice in court. What the IEBC conducted as an election was an absolute joke. That's not how you manage polls, we are going to file our petition at the Supreme Court," said Raila.

However, it is not only the Azimio la Umoja coalition which is set to file a petition challenging the presidential election outcome since civil society organizations have also questioned the integrity of the process.

On Thursday, a caucus of nine NGOs under the banner of Angaza Movement questioned the credibility of the election, claiming there were many discrepancies and electoral malpractices.

Led by the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the organisations claimed the irregularities which were confirmed by four commissioners who rejected the results may have affected the integrity of the process.

Once the petition challenging Ruto's win is filed, the Supreme Court will, within 14 days, hear and determine the petition. Should it determine that the declaration of Ruto's as president-elect was invalid, the judges will order a fresh election within 60 days.

Chief Justice Martha Koome had earlier in the week issued the timelines for which the case will be filed until the day of determination.

Once the petitioners file their case on Monday as expected, they will have 24 hours (one day) to serve Ruto, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the Attorney General as the legal representative of the government.

The respondents will then have four days to file their responses in defence of the declared results while the petitioners will have another 24 hours (one day) to file any rejoinder.

Any other party who wishes to join the case either as an interested party or amicus curiae (friend of the court) will also have one day to file and serve their applications.

On the eighth day after filing of the petition, the seven Supreme Court judges - Chief Justice Martha Koome, her deputy Philomena Mwilu, judges Mohamed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndungu, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko will have the first sitting for pre-trial conference.

It will be during the pre-trial conference that the court will determine preliminary issues raised by the parties and decide on time allocation for each party.

The main hearing will start after the pre-trial conference and will be expected to take maximum three days before the judges' retreat for two days to deliberate on the submissions and make their final decision on the fourteenth day.