Court says yes, its President Uhuru, Elections were free and fair, judges say

President elect Hon Uhuru Kenyatta addresses a press conference after the Supreme Court upheld IEBC declaration as the duly elected president.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By PAUL OGEMBA pogemba@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, March 31   2013 at  00:30

The Supreme Court has paved the way for transition from the coalition government by upholding the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya’s fourth president.

The six judges, in a unanimous judgment, said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission conducted the elections in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner and that the elections were indeed conducted in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws.

“As to whether the elections held on March 4 was conducted in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner in compliance with provisions of the constitution and relevant laws; it is the decision of the court they were indeed conducted in compliance with the constitution and the law,” said Chief Justice Willy Mutunga who read the judgment on behalf of the bench.

The judgment delivered within five minutes sparked celebrations among a team of lawyers representing the IEBC, Mr Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto while casting gloom among Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supporters who camped outside the Supreme Court for hours.

The judges dismissed Mr Odinga and Africa Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG) calls for fresh election on grounds that the elections were flawed.

On the question of including rejected votes in calculating the final percentage of total votes garnered by presidential candidates, the judges ruled that the rejected votes ought not to have been included in calculating the final tallies in favour of each of the eight presidential candidates.

They, however, declined to order for the re-computation of the final percentages saying that was not within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

The brief, concise and straight to the point judgment marked the end of a gruelling 14-days legal battle, with the judges saying they will give a detailed judgment containing the reasons for their decision within two weeks.

Other judges who sat on the bench were Justices Jackton Ojwang’, Philip Tunoi, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u.

The CJ took time to appeal for calm, saying they had done their part and it was up to the country to pick up and continue with their daily businesses.

“At this historical moment, the Supreme Court has done its part. It is now upon the people of Kenya and its leadership to ensure peace and stability prevails thereafter,” said Mutunga.

Mr Odinga sought the invalidation of Mr Kenyatta’s win based on five grounds claiming that the IEBC failed to carry proper and valid voter registration in accordance with the Constitution and Elections Act.

He also argued that the presidential elections were not conducted in accordance with the Constitution; that IEBC failed to carry out a transparent, verifiable, accurate and accountable election; that IEBC announced the results without proper verification and that results were inconsistent where some areas had number of votes cast surpassing those of registered voters.

He was joined by AFRICOG which argued that the failure of the IEBC to use electronic transmission of results compounded the credibility of the result transmission process and contravened the Constitution by using a manual system to tally the votes and ignoring the fact that voter turnout in many constituencies was recorded as being higher than those registered.

IEBC, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto put up a spirited defence of the conduct of the elections, urging the judges to dismiss the petitions.

The commission, through lawyer Kamau Karori, denied claims that it altered results in some areas and defended the use of the green book saying it would have been unfair to deny anybody whose details were not captured in the electronic register to vote.

On Mr Odinga’s claims that IEBC colluded with Mr Kenyatta to rig the votes, Mr Karori submitted it was difficult to believe who is telling the truth since Mr Kenyatta had also alleged that Mr Odinga colluded with IEBC in purchasing the electronic kits.

He argued that the IEBC conducted its constitutional mandate in good faith and that Mr Odinga’s call for a fresh election was not only impractical but also untenable.

After the judgment, Dr Mutunga singled out Attorney General Githu Muigai for praise in his role as amicus curiae during the petitions’ hearing.

“You were extremely superb, you helped us come up with some great reasoning and we pray that you continue being a mentor to the young advocates,” said the CJ to Prof Muigai who passed a vote of thanks on behalf of the lawyers.