Thirdway Alliance presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot will on Wednesday know whether he will be included in the repeat presidential election.
The High Court is set to make the decision today and it may have a massive impact on the next step the country takes.
Initially, President Uhuru Kenyatta's team of lawyers were opposed to the inclusion of Aukot but may now dance a different tune after National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the presidential race.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta"]
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On the other hand, Odinga's team was pushing for the inclusion of Aukot but may have to rethink its tactic because his inclusion may be a massive loss to them.
If the Thirdway Alliance candidate is included in the polls, it means that he will battle it out with only President Kenyatta and NASA will have lost in its push for repeat nominations.
The election will go on as planned and the Opposition's boycott will be somewhat insignificant.
If he is not included, Kenyatta will face an anxious wait as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will have to make a crucial decision regarding his fate.
In his submission, Dr Aukot argued he had a direct, legitimate and inalienable constitutional right to participate in the fresh presidential election, having been a contender in the last polls.
He added that the Gazette notice published by IEBC announcing the fresh election date and the candidates was discriminatory and unconstitutional.
[caption caption="Ekuru Aukot"]
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“My political right and that of my constituents as enshrined in the Constitution are threatened, violated and infringed [on] by the decision of IEBC and its leader, Mr Wafula Chebukati, to exclude me from the fresh election without lawful justification,” Dr Aukot added.
He moved to court seeking an interpretation of “fresh elections” as ordered by the Supreme Court under article 140(3).
Aukot had first moved to the Superior Court but Chief Justice David Maraga directed him to file the case before the High Court.
According to the petitioner, with the Supreme Court invalidating the August 8 presidential poll, anyone who contested the poll is eligible to vie in the repeat election.
On Tuesday, Odinga withdrew from the polls citing several reasons including failure of the IEBC to meet his irreducible minimums and Jubilee Party's efforts to amend the electoral laws and this plunged the country into an uncertainty as the election was set to be between Kenyatta and the Opposition leader.
