The Supreme Court of Kenya, on Monday, September 5 affirmed the victory of William Ruto in the country’s presidential election.
The seven-judge bench upheld the results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission – IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati – in its decision.
The Chief Justice Martha Koome-led Bench unanimously threw out a petition by Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition candidate Raila Odinga, who argued the declaration of Dr Ruto was null and void.
According to the court’s findings, there was no evidence of a man in the middle server, and no evidence was presented to show that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati and other IEBC staff were involved.
The Supreme Court also found no significant differences between forms uploaded on the portal and forms delivered to Bomas at the IEBC National Tallying Centre, according to Justice Koome.
“No credible evidence was given to show forms given to agents were different,” CJ Koome said.
Affidavits from two of Mr Odinga’s experts were also ruled inadmissible by the court.
“There is nothing to show that Raila asked the two people to swear affidavits. We must remind counsel who appear before this court or any other court that swearing to falsehoods is a criminal offence,” she said.
According to the judgment, Ruto met the constitutional threshold of 50 percent +1 of the total valid votes cast and garnered 25 percent of the votes cast in at least 24 counties.
“We declare the election of the first respondent as valid,” Koome stated.
“It is our finding that the declared President-elect attained 50 per cent plus one of the of the votes cast in accordance to the Constitution,” Koome noted.
The Court also dismissed the contents of the affidavit of John Mark Githongo, adding that it may have contained falsehoods.
“No admissible evidence was presented to show that forms 34A were manipulated. The affidavits amount to double hearsay,” Justice Koome said.
The court also rejected allegations made by chief petitioner Raila Odinga that the forms 34A on the Commission’s portal differed from those sent from polling stations.
The postponement of elections in Kakamega and Mombasa counties, Kitui Rural, Kacheliba Rongai, and Pokot South Constituencies, according to judges, did not result in voter suppression and thus had no effect on the outcome of the presidential race.
The Supreme Court also ruled that the differences in presidential votes and those cast in other elective seats were properly accounted for, with the IEBC explaining that prisoners and Kenyans in the diaspora only voted for the head of state.
“IEBC has offered a plausible explanation for the vote differential citing categories of voters who only voted for the president such as voters and Kenyans in the diaspora.
“There was an insignificant number of stray votes, whose combined effects cannot justify the nullification of the election,” the President of the Supreme Court stated.
As a result, none of the irregularities raised by the eight petitioners, whose cases were consolidated into one, were significant enough to affect the outcome of the vote.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court sided with Chebukati and the IEBC, stating that the technology used during the exercise met the standards of integrity, verifiability, security, and transparency, ensuring accurate and verifiable results.
The president-elect will be sworn in on or before Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
