Details of Karua's petition at East African Court of Justice over Ruto win

Piece by: ANNETTE WAMBULWA

04 November 2022

• In reference, they have accused the electoral body of failing to properly manage the August polls.

• It is their argument that IEBC did not register eligible voters and also failed to maintain an accurate and clean register.

Azimio Deputy Presidential Candidate Martha Karua and Activist Khelif Khalifa have challenged the Supreme Court decision on the presidential petition at the East African Court of Justice.

In a reference filed at the court, they argue that IEBC and the Supreme Court subverted democracy and undermined the rule of law through their actions in the 2022 presidential election.

The two argue that the actions and decisions of the two organs violated their rights.

Karua and Khalifa had filed separate petitions but have now joined forces to file one reference before the expiry of the two-month window allowed by EACJ.

The window elapses on Saturday.

The two have accused the electoral body of failing to properly manage the August 9 polls.

They argue that IEBC did not register eligible voters and also failed to maintain an accurate and clean register.

The Narc Kenya leader and Khalif have also told the court that IEBC allowed unauthorised persons to access, delete and upload election results.

They claim that the electoral management body, which was dysfunctional, did not investigate or respond to complaints.

They have also accused the Supreme Court of not according them a fair hearing, and that the apex court frustrated their attempts to access Justice when they filed their presidential petition.

According to the reference, the judges did not compel IEBC to supply all the information necessary to vindicate their rights.

They have accused the Supreme Court of refusing to examine all the evidence presented before it and neglecting to fully inquire into the technology applied by IEBC.

Karua and Khalifa have also claimed that the Supreme Court condoned IEBC’s cover-up in refusing to grant access to its technology critical to determining the matter fairly, in disregard of its own orders.

The Supreme Court registrar has also been indicted in the reference that she failed, neglected or refused “to render a true and comprehensive account of the results of the limited scrutiny that had been allowed.”

They have also questioned why the Supreme Court found that IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati conducted the election in an unlawful manner but failed to find him culpable.