Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner Roselyn Akombe's resignation on Wednesday made its way to the Supreme Court.
Dr Akombe's resignation was raised by petitioner Njonjo Mue, through lawyer Julie Soweto, who argued that the decision by the ex-commissioner to quit from the electoral agency indicated that all was not well and that the agency was not prepared for the October 26 re-run.
The issue generated a heated contest in the court with Justice Jackton Ojwang stating that the advocate needed to provide evidence showing that what Akombe mentioned was admissible.
"This is the basic law of evidence. You cannot have validity without the owner," the Supreme Court judge stated.
[caption caption="File image of Supreme Court of Kenya judges"]
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Justice Ojwang's argument was echoed by President Uhuru Kenyatta's lawyer, Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, who submitted that a statement cannot be issued on a matter that has not been admitted in court.
"Who is making Akombe's statement? You cannot make a statement made by the person without admissible evidence. My friend should tell the court the medium through which they are admitting these statements," Mr Ahmednassir posed.
Ms Soweto, however, explained that Akombe's resignation had a letterhead and that IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati confirmed what Akombe wrote.
"The only evidence is that statement has been owned. IEBC has not denied that it actually came from Akombe. This is a written statement on letterhead. The documents are in the public domain so they should not be ignored.
"An inference of the truth must be drawn from the fact that Chebukati acknowledged the statement and referred to it in his affidavit and are part of the documents that were sworn," she stated.
Regarding the admission of the statement to the court, Ms Soweto explained that an affidavit filed by the IEBC Chair in the court referred to the resignation, therefore, making it legit.
[caption caption="File image of advocates; Julie Soweto and Harun Ndubi representing the petitioners"]
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According to the petitioner, the main reason for using the resignation of the former official was to show the environment in which the commission was operating.
