Chief Justice David Maraga could miss Saturday's Supreme Court sitting on the presidential election petition filed by the National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
The petition's pre-conference hearing is set for 26th August 2017 which clashes with Justice Maraga's day of worship.
The CJ has not yet issued any formal announcement as to whether he will attend the sitting but his past stand on the matter indicates that he may miss the session.
During his interview for the CJ position last year, Maraga publicly declared that he was a staunch Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) faithful who does not work on Saturday.
Justice Maraga noted that as the CJ he could not compromise his going to church on Saturday for work.
“It would be very difficult for me to sit on a Saturday to hear a case.
“I would rather talk with my colleagues in the court to accommodate me and exempt me from sitting if the hearing extends to a Saturday," he stated during the interviews.
The law dictates that the court must conduct the pretrial conference on the eighth day after the filing of the petition by the aggrieved parties, after which the hearing would then commence the following day.
The outcome of the petition should be determined within 14 days (September 1, 2017) from the day of filing.
Mr Odinga and his running-mate Kalonzo Musyoka lodged their petition last Friday, against President Kenyatta, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and its chairman, Wafula Chebukati.
Legal experts, however, mentioned that it was not mandatory for the CJ to sit in the Saturday conference of parties as it was mainly meant to deal with procedure and rules of engagement.
“He can be represented by the Deputy Chief Justice then join the team later as hearing starts. During the 2013 petition by Raila versus IEBC and the president-elect, six judges were on the Bench since that deputy had not been installed yet,” a Senior Counsel stated.
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