Why petitioner John Njoroge wants presidential poll nullified

When voter John Njoroge Kamau cast his ballot in favour of his preferred presidential candidate on August 9, lodging a petition to have the election nullified days later was the last thing on his mind.

Kamau, now the second petitioner in the case challenging William Ruto's win during the August General Election, wants the Supreme Court to nullify the election on grounds that the Kenyan voter was largely disenfranchised, and that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) acted "unconstitutionally".

Appearing on his behalf, lawyer Zehrabanu Janmohamed today argued that the commission did not conduct a credible election, which could be seen from how divided the commissioners were.

"On August 15 at about 4 pm, a public statement was made by four IEBC commissioners stating that the election was 'opaque.' Two hours later, the president-elect would be announced by the commission's chairperson. Did my vote matter or was it Chebukati's result...or an opaque result?" Janmohamed posed.

"This election should be nullified and the chairperson [Chebukati] be prohibited from conducting any further elections, in view of his behaviour, and/or holding any public office in Kenya."

She further raised the question of IEBC's mandate and its duty on verification, tallying, and declaration of results in accordance with the provisions of Article 138(3) (C) and Article 138 (10) of the Constitution, arguing that the electoral agency failed Kenyans.

The lawyer argued that if it was Chebukati's duty to verify and declare the final tally, as per his August 17, 2022 statement, then the commission does not need seven commissioners, which she equated to a waste of taxpayers' money.

"It is in our view fallacious to claim that the chairperson can alone purport to confirm or verify the election results. If three commissioners make a quorum, why have seven? Why not have three?" she submitted.

Suspended governorship elections

Kamau, in his petition also argued that the Constitution is clear on when a general election should be held in Kenya (the second Tuesday of August) and that suspending elections in eight electoral areas led to suppression of voter turn-out.

"We have a situation where elections were cancelled. We have a commission and chairperson who are so disconnected, which shows there is a problem," lawyer Janmohamed argued.