Karua: I'm considering taking our presidential suit grievances to East African Court

Martha Karua, the running mate of Raila Odinga in the August 9, 2022 presidential election, has said she's contemplating filing a suit at the East African Court of Justice to seek an alternative opinion on the grievances she raised against the IEBC and William Ruto's victory at the Supreme Court of Kenya.

Karua said she was aware the East African Court of Justice's decision won't be binding, or have the ability to change Kenya's presidency, but would give her the closure she needs.

She spoke in Kirinyaga County on Saturday, September 10.

"When a cooking stick breaks, it doesn't mean the cooking ends. I'm fully aware that after the Supreme Court judgment, there's no any other superior court that can resolve our dispute on the presidential election.

"However, we can seek another respected court's opinion on whether the Supreme Court of Kenya granted us justice. It won't be about who should occupy the president's seat, but whether justice was served," she said.

Karua said that she challenged Anne Waiguru's election as Kirinyaga Governor in 2017, and that the East African Court granted her the closure that she needed.

In December 2020, the East African Court of Justice awarded Karua $25,000 (Sh2.8 million) for a Supreme Court decision which infringed on her rights to a fair hearing and trial.

Karua said that although she could not get the gubernatorial seat, Kenya's Judiciary had been exposed, and the truth of the matter revealed.

"I have, in the past, filed my suit at the East African Court of Justice after controversially losing the Kirinyaga gubernatorial election to Anne Waiguru," Karua said on Saturday.

"I heard the Supreme Court saying that our arguments [in the presidential petition] were akin to hot air. Let me say that a hot air balloon can take me all the way to the East African Court of Justice. I am actually considering whether to travel on a hot air balloon to the East African Court just to discuss that [Supreme Court] judgment," said the NARC-Kenya Party leader.

Karua said she was making the decision in her own right, and not one that had received the blessings of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leadership.

"This isn't Azimio la Umoja's resolution, but mine as Martha Karua, an aggrieved Kenyan. I am entitled to that as an individual. It is something I'm considering. For now, I'll take a break. We have to wait for the 21 days to elapse so that the Supreme Court of Kenya can share its detailed judgment on our petition. I can't wait to know exactly why they threw out our case.

"We did not agree with the judges' verdict, but we respect it. Let the Supreme Court judges tell us why they found our case weak, and I'll also tell the East African Court of Justice why we think our case was strong."

Karua and her principal, Raila Odinga, lost the presidential petition filed at the Supreme Court of Kenya over lack of evidence to occasion overturning of Ruto's win in the August 9 polls.

The Azimio pair had alleged that hackers accessed the IEBC's results transmission system and changed the outcome in Ruto's favour.

The court said the petitioners did not produce evidence to prove those allegations.

Raila Odinga lost the presidential race to William Ruto, who got 7.18 million votes (50.49 per cent) to be declared the winner. Odinga received 6.94 million votes (48.85 per cent) to take the first runner-up slot.