5 Tough Questions By Supreme Court Judges to Petitioners

On certain of the grounds mentioned by the petitioners and respondents in support of the petition, Supreme Court judges hearing the presidential election petition requested clarification.

James Orengo was initially questioned by Justice William Ouko on the significance of the rejected ballots in determining the ultimate presidential results.

What is the relevance of rejected votes when computing the results of the outcome votes~ William Ouko asks SC James Orengo. ^NK#LookUPTV #CHOICE2022 pic.twitter.com/8f5dA0D5QC

— LOOK UP TV (@lookuptv) August 31, 2022

“What is the relevance of rejected votes? The postponement of elections in certain areas and you say this resulted in voter suppression. That people wake up to vote for a particular category of candidate. Do we have any scientific nexus on this or this is just an assumption?”

On the part of Justice Njoki Ndung’u, she asked Orengo to prove how the postponement of the gubernatorial elections in Kakamega and Mombasa counties affected voter turnout.

“Each of the elections are separate, presidential, governor all the way to MCA, can an MCA candidate also claim voter suppression?” posed Njoki Ndung’u over Orengo’s allegation.

Njoki Ndungu throwing hard tackles on Murgor and the other lady that I don't want to mention her name due to known reasons 🤣 pic.twitter.com/eDkcaRYCfd

— Project 658 Kibunga (@TheDiplomat_Ke) August 31, 2022

Justice Isaac Lenaola questioned the last-minute uprising by the four commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), led by vice chair Juliana Cherera.

“We saw your clients in public reading out results until the eleventh hour, what evidence do we have that this was an afterthought?” Lenaola posed a question to lawyer Jothan Arwa.

Justice Lenaola: Cherera and the other commissioners were publicly reading the results, at what point did the storm brew or was it an afterthought? pic.twitter.com/buS3IjKR76

— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) August 31, 2022

Justice Smokin Wanjala questioned why the commissioners did not protest that they were being assigned duties that were not within their mandate.

In regards to the 4 commissioners, we have been informed here that commissioners were allocated other roles. Why didn't they protest?
-Justice Smokin Wanjala#KURA2022 pic.twitter.com/AvZsZC7IPW

— K24 TV (@K24Tv) August 31, 2022

On the part of Deputy CJ Philomena Mwilu she asked the lawyers:

“In the event, we arrive at figures that show that either Ruto or Raila has more votes, what are we to do? Are we still to declare irrespective of all other processes having been impugned as submitted to us today?”

DCJ Mwilu: How are we supposed to declare Raila or Ruto as the winners using the same results from an election that the petitioners say was bungled by IEBC? pic.twitter.com/AXsXk1pExj

— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) August 31, 2022