Uhuru, Raila to face off in fresh October polls

0
1130
President Uhur Kenyatta and Raila Odinga at a past function. PHOTO: COURTESY.

Nairobi, KENYA: President Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA Presidential candidate Raila Odinga will be the only candidates who will be in the ballot papers during the fresh presidential elections to be held on October 17.

This is according to a statement released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) signed by Chairperson Wafula Chebukati on Monday evening.

“A fresh presidential election shall be held on October 17, 2017.

“This is in conformity with the Supreme Court decision annulling the presidential election on August 8, 2017,” Read part of the statement.

Chebukati said only incumbent President Kenyatta and  Raila Odinga, who brought the court challenge, would be on the ballot paper, along with their running mates.

This locks out the other six candidates, following an interpretation of what a fresh election means by a judgment that was offered by Dr Willy Mutunga in 2013.

“If the petitioner was only one of the candidates, and who had taken the second position in vote-tally to the President-elect, then the “fresh election” will, in law, be confined to the petitioner and the President-elect, and the candidate who receives the most votes in the fresh election would be declared elected as President” the court said in its judgment.

However, Thirdway Alliance Kenya presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot  said he will challenge the IEBC decision to have only Uhuru and Raila battle it out in the fresh elections.

“(The) decision by IEBC to lock other presidential candidates out of the fresh elections is invalid, illegal, and null and void. We are headed to court,” Dr Aukot said on Twitter.

This comes after the Supreme Court led by Justice David Maraga declared the August 8 polls “invalid, null and void”.

He added that the IEBC had committed “irregularities and illegalities” in the transmission of results from polling stations to the national tally centre.

Comments

comments