CJ Mutunga, we are ready for Cord petition

By Sylvia Juma

The Supreme Court is ready to handle any election dispute case filed fairly and in time.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga (pictured) on Monday said that his team of six Supreme Court judges was ready to handle any petition brought forward.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) team led by Raila Odinga is expected to move to court today to present a petition challenging the declaration of Jubilee coalition’s Uhuru Kenyatta as the president elect in the March 4 elections. Dr Mutunga also received receiving copies of the presidential results.

In a petition titled Democracy in Trial, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) flagbearer listed a number of cases as the main reason he rejected the results.

Mr Odinga said that Kenyans were convinced translate their faith in democracy into a completely credible election which would unite the country despite the hiccups the IEBC experienced in implementing a smooth and transparent run-up to Election Day.

“What Kenyans witnessed instead was the failure of virtually every instrument the IEBC had deployed for the election: The poll books, the servers, the telephonic transmission, the BVR – they all failed despite the billions spent on acquiring them,” he said.

“Voter registration numbers were reduced in our strongholds and added to Jubilee strongholds!
To give just one example, Ndhiwa constituency had 61,339 voters listed in the IEBC Final Register. But in the votes and election results that IEBC announced, it indicated Ndhiwa had only 48,535 voters,” he added.

According to the premier, the electoral body had failed the people of Kenya and Judge Kriegler.

He, however, said that Cord will move to court because most Kenyans had faith in the Judiciary and that it will uphold the rule of law. He also appealed to Kenyans to respect the rule of law and the Constitution.

According to the constitution , Cord has 14 days to file the suit in the Supreme Court from the day when IEBC announced Uhuru Kenyatta as the president elect.

Raila will be represented by lawyers George Oraro and Pheroze Nowrojee

First published in March 2013.