Kenyan Court to Begin Trial on Election Petitions

The Supreme Court in Kenya is set to hold a pre-trial conference on petitions seeking to invalidate the presidential election results.

Nine petitions were lodged last week seeking to overturn William Ruto’s win.

Conference
The conference will make a list of the issues that the court will decide on.

They include whether the electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati violated the law by declaring Mr. Ruto the winner of the election.

It will also consider the divisions in the commission, with one faction seeking to have the election nullified and another maintaining that it should be upheld.

Report says the conference will be attended by seven judges who will preside over the petition arising from the August 9, elections.

Preliminary Rulings
Meanwhile, the judges will deliver preliminary rulings over various issues before presiding over the pre-trial conference.

They include a plea by Mr. Ruto seeking to remove individual electoral commission officials as parties in the petition filed by his opponent Raila Odinga.

The judges will determine whether to grant orders for scrutiny and counting of votes as sought by Mr. Odinga’s coalition.

They will also rule on applications by several individuals and entities seeking to be enjoined as friends of the court not parties to the case but permitted to assist the court by offering information.

However, the proceedings will be televised live to allow the public follow arguments and minimise the number of people physically present in the courtroom.

Mr. Odinga rejected the election result saying the announcement was unlawful. He cited divisions among electoral commissioners and failure by the chairman to explain how he arrived at the final tally.

Mr. Chebukati declared Mr. Ruto as Kenya’s president-elect with 7.1m votes against Mr. Odinga’s 6.9m votes.

BBC/CO