Nairobi — Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga now says his petition against President-Elect William Ruto’s win is in defense of the Constitution.
Through his lawyer Senior Counsel James Orengo who appeared before the Seven -Judge- Bench, Odinga Maintained that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) violated the Constitution by not conducting a credible election.
“Every person has an obligation to, respect, uphold, defend and protect this Constitution. This petition is in defense of the Constitution because there is an election that has taken place that is putting someone in office or it is attempting to put someone in office without meeting the requirements of the Constitution,” Orengo said.
Orengo further submitted that IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati should be found personally accountable for bungling the election and urged the court to ensure his ‘impunity’ is punished
“You with respect cannot allow what happened at the IEBC to go without some kind of action. Impunity must be punished. Unpunished impunity breeds arrogance and arrogance leads to arbitrary abuse of power. Without any action, this commission will still be a divided commission,” said Orengo.
Raila Odinga’s petition is seeking to overturn President Elect William Ruto’s victory.
In his prayers, Odinga asked the court to nullify the August 9 presidential election results, accusing the Commission of rigging him out in favour of Ruto.
Odinga further submitted that Ruto had failed to attain the 50 percent plus one vote required by law, allegations the commission dismissed.
IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati, on August 15, 2022, declared Ruto the President-Elect after garnering 7,176,141 (50.49 percent) votes against Odinga, who got 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent).
The court will issue a verdict Monday.