National Super Alliance (NASA) Leader Raila Odinga has laid out a strategy to eject President Uhuru Kenyatta from office.
Mr Odinga, through his lawyers, hopes to convince the Supreme Court that the elections were a total sham and that President Kenyatta benefitted from alleged electoral misconduct.
The strategy, which was effected from Monday, was based on arguments that there were constitutional violations, use of wrong documents and breach of the electoral code of conduct.
Siaya Senator James Orengo, who is also the petitioner's lead Counsel, started the hearing by comparing all documents in their possession and those that had been submitted by IEBC to indicate the election of Mr Kenyatta was null and unconstitutional.
He argued that some of the forms 34A and 34B which had been supplied by IEBC bore no security features given by the commission earlier.
The Senator claimed that IEBC used documents that had been ‘manufactured somewhere’ other than in Dubai by Al Ghurair, the firm contracted to print the ballot papers.
“Our complaint is that what IEBC used is not part of the papers packed and shipped from Dubai. The way some of the forms are printed ought not to be the way they are appearing," Orengo stated.
Lawyer Otiende Amollo on his part submitted that the petitioner had identified 32 fatal errors which, if considered, will automatically invalidate the August 8 election.
According to the Senior Counsel, close scrutiny of the documents presented to the court and obtained from the commission showed a concerted effort to doctor the documents in order to seal the flaws.
“From our analysis, the IEBC made a courageous effort to remedy defects on what was previously seen.
“In many of the documents before the court, they appear to be correct whereas what we have read otherwise IEBC tampered with the prescribed documents after the election," he submitted.
Mr Amollo questioned an 11 per cent lead by President Kenyatta from the start to the end of the transmission of presidential results explaining that it was statistically impossible.
Mr Odinga's legal team also pointed out alleged breaches of the Constitution and electoral laws by President Kenyatta and three Cabinet Secretaries during the campaign period.
“Our submission is that once the contravention of the Constitution is proved, the matter ends there and the election is invalidated,” Lawyer Paul Mwangi explained.
Regarding President Kenyatta's majority, the NASA lawyers argued that looking at the numbers alone was not important.
"It’s not about numbers. It’s whether the laws governing the elections and the Constitution have been followed. It’s not about numbers,” Senior Counsel Okong’o Omogeni submitted.
The Petitioner and his team hope that the submissions they laid out yesterday can be considered by the Court to unseat President Kenyatta on grounds that the elections were not free and fair.
The hearing continues today where President Kenyatta's lawyers will make their submissions after which the petitioners' team will respond to all the claims raised by the respondents.
