Reuben Kigame, a presidential candidate, has suffered a major setback after the Court of Appeal suspended the decision directing IEBC to consider his papers.
This comes after the IEBC filed an appeal against the High Court ruling, arguing that the order would have serious consequences in the upcoming election, including postponing it if his name was to be included on the ballot.
The electoral commission’s application for a stay of execution was granted by Justices Wanjiru Karanja, Francis Tuyiott, and Hellen Omondi.
“The appellant to serve the respondents, the respondent shall serve before Sunday. In the meantime, stay of execution of the High Court judgment,” the court ruled.
Kigame’s lawyer, John Khaminwa, told the court that his client had been given an appointment by Chairman Wafula Chebukati at 11 a.m. on Thursday and that he wanted the court to wait for the outcome of the meeting.
However, IEBC lawyer Eric Gumbo opposed the application, claiming that the proceedings are in relation to a judgment and that there is no reason for them to wait for the outcome of the meeting.
He blamed Khaminwa for derailing the meeting.
Khaminwa also claimed he had not been served with the appeal documents, but Gumbo stated that they had.
The electoral commission had filed an appeal against a High Court ruling ordering it to consider Kigame’s nomination papers for the August 9 general election.
Chebukati cited three legal impediments to the court’s order’s implementation.
The final legal reason stipulated by the commission includes a number of steps and procedures that had already been followed to ensure that the election gets underway in about 19 days.
According to the Wafula Chebukati-led commission, these steps can not be repeated as they risk delaying or in the worse case postponing the elections if repeated again.
The case will be heard next Monday at noon.
