IEBC asks Supreme Court to throw out Ruto, Gachagua case

UDA presidential candidate William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua at Nyayo Stadium on August 6, 2022. [Samson Wire, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a case questioning the eligibility of Deputy President William Ruto and his running mate Rigathi Gachagua to vie.

The commission has backed Ruto and Gachagua's argument that the case filed against them is defective.

In its objection to the case filed by the 11 petitioners led by Kenneth Njagi and Meshack Suba, the commission argues that Supreme Court has no powers to invalidate or validate nominations of candidates in a general application.

According to the commission, the integrity issue raised by the petitioners will lead the court to interfere will IEBC's role.

IEBC's objection is filed by Olendo, Orare, and Samba advocates.

In their joint reply, Ruto and Gachagua argue that the criminal and forfeiture cases against the latter (Gachagua) have not been settled by the court and therefore the duo cannot be disqualified unless Gachagua has exhausted the appeal process.

According to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leaders, the case has been passed by events as the election has already taken place arguing that it should wait until the tally is done and a winner is declared.

In their case, the petitioners through lawyer Kibe Mungai argue that IEBC did not vet Gachagua to determine if he is fit to deputise Ruto.

Kibe argues that there is likely to be a specter if the duo is elected to form the next government.