Chief Justice Martha Koome is seeking to understand why the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, announced the presidential results without stating that a faction of four other commissioners had dissented.
While addressing the legal team representing Chebukati led by Senior Counsel Githu Muigai, the CJ wondered why Chebukati deemed it fit to leave out the critical aspect at such a crucial time.
"You have seen the IEBC being likened to the Supreme Court much to the chagrin of the judges here. What is being asked is that, if there is a judgement and there is a dissenting voice, why didn't the chairman tell Kenyans exactly what happened?
"Another question that should be answered is why the streaming of the results stopped. Because if Kenyans were following the process from the beginning to the end then, the talk of 'piki piki ponki' would not arise," she stated.
CJ Koome further attempted to comprehend why the embattled chairperson assigned procedural roles to the other commissioners yet they were tasked with overseeing the electoral process.
"The role of the IEBC is to supervise and conduct elections. Why did the chairman deem it fit to allocate the commissioner's roles that have been described as domestic chores leaving the co-business of IEBC to the CEO to supervise?
"We are being told that they did a good job in the polling stations until the national center when they stopped doing their co-business according to the Constitution as they were given other duties. This is bringing a lot of questions in our minds." she stated
Koome based her questions on the affidavits filed by some of the dissenting commissioners who alleged that their roles were unilaterally given to other officials at the last minute.
In his affidavit, Commissioner Justus Nyang'aya told the Supreme Court that Chebukati took away his role of overseeing the IEBC ICT on election day.
The issue of the role of the commissioners during the tail end of the electoral process has been a bone of contention in the petition with Justice Smokin Wanjala, on Wednesday, August 31, asking why the four commissioners did not oppose the move by Chebukati.
"We were told the four commissioners were appointed roles which were different from those they were appointed for as commissioners. Why didn’t they protest? Is this chairperson we are dealing with such a terror that nobody can face him?
Additionally, the CJ asked IEBC to demonstrate allegations made by their counsel regarding the photoshop of Form 34As by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's team.
IEBC's and Chebukati's legal team were accorded 15 minutes in the Friday, September 2 session to respond to the questions after they requested more time to address the issues better.
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