adminSpeaking in Nairobi after the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Isaack Hassan presented him a copy of the certificate declaring Uhuru Kenyatta as president-elect, Mutunga said the court was ready to handle disputes from any party arising from last week’s historic general elections.
“We at the Supreme Court are prepared to hear any petition that may be filed impartially, fairly, justly and without fear, ill- will, favour, prejudice or bias and in accordance with our Constitution and our Laws,” he told journalists in Nairobi.
He assured Kenyans that the six judges in the Supreme Court will hear any petition or petitions filed within the time lines decreed by the constitution.
“I also want to reiterate that the Supreme Court is a court for all Kenyans and it does not, and will not reflect, any ethnic, religious, region, generation bias in its decision and will be guided by our Constitution and the Law,” he said.
He said the judiciary was very happy that the last week’s general election was peaceful and thanked Kenyans for their demonstration of patriotism which he said is a key value in the country’s progressive constitution.
“We are very happy that Kenyans continue to breathe life into the constitutional value of public participation. We are glad that Kenyans, politicians and political parties have confidence in the Judiciary to handle all electoral disputes,” Mutunga said.
“If any petitions are filed, I have confirmed that the judiciary is ready to hear these disputes impartially, fairly, justly and without fear, ill-will, favour, prejudice or bias and in accordance with our Constitution and our laws.” he said.
The development comes as the Prime Minister Raila Odinga who emerged second in the presidential elections won by Kenyatta last week has appointed a team of senior lawyers who will spearhead their petition to contest Kenyatta’s election as the fourth President of Kenya. The 67-year-old
Odinga who contested the elections under Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) ticket was trounced by Kenyatta who garnered 6.17 million votes against Odinga’s 5.34 million.
Odianga who refused to concede defeat, was due to move to the Supreme Court yesterday to lodge their case, in which they are seeking to have Kenyatta’s declaration as President-elect nullified on grounds of anomalies that marred the polling and vote tallying exercises.
CORD is arguing that figures of votes attained by Jubilee Alliance whose flag bearer was Kenyatta were inflated especially in their strongholds while they were denied their votes in CORD strongholds a claim which the IEBC has said is baseless and pointless.
The judicial process followed an announcement by IEBC to formally declared Kenyatta “the duly elected president of the Republic of Kenya.”
The electoral commission had kept the Kenyan people waiting in suspense for a week, after technical problems time after time delayed the counting process. But Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s founding President Jomo Kenyatta, most of the time has had a lead in the count.
“We hope the media will cover live the hearing of the petition or petitions filed to ensure full public participation in the hearing. I am sure that for justice to be done and to be manifestly seen to be done this public participation is absolutely necessary,” Mutunga said. — Xinhua.
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