Attorney General Paul Kihara has accused Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati of tarnishing the names of public officers to "achieve an image of integrity".
Mr Kihara's lawyer George Oraro Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was wrong for Chebukati to tie the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) to a group of politicians that the IEBC boss claims had tried to influence the outcome of the August 9 presidential election.
Mr Oraro denied claims that the NSAC had tried to sway the IEBC to alter the presidential results during a meeting with the commission on August 15, saying that the council only reached out to the IEBC to address security concerns.
He said the security concerns stemmed from public anxiety over the announcement of presidential results, which had been pending for six days.
"The whole country was waiting and tensions were rising and there was almost a breakdown at Bomas," Mr Oraro said of the scuffle at the Bomas of Kenya National Tallying Centre. He faulted the IEBC's decision to stop displaying results on the screens at Bomas 'without any explanation' for causing the tension.
The Constitution allows the IEBC seven days to announce presidential results after polling day.
The senior counsel argued that, in any event, Chebukati had the chance to report any inducement into committing electoral offences to the police when he reported the incident at Bomas. "The argument made cannot fly... All the chair is doing is sullying the character of other people to augment his claim for higher principle and integrity," Mr Oraro said.
He also argued that commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye had an equal chance to report the alleged intimidation to the police but did not do so in reports filed on the Bomas scuffle.
"These are Kenyans of integrity, highly respectable and who have pulled themselves by their bootstraps to rise to the echelons of public service," Oraro said of the NSAC members.
"It is unfortunate that their names would be sullied in the midst of a political contest in which they have no interest."
Oraro poked holes in Chebukati's submission, in which the IEBC boss said he had been informed of the NSAC's presence at Bomas by Prof Guliye. He said that Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua had called Chebukati to inform him that he would send a delegation.
"The attitude of the IEBC chair is exhibited by the contempt with which he treated this team. They were not met when they came... They were kept waiting for four hours," Oraro said.
He said it was false for Chebukati to claim there was no previous link with the NSAC, saying the body had a working relationship with the IEBC and Mr Chebukati, in particular.
Oraro highlighted a meeting between Chebukati and the NSAC that took place on July 4. "He briefed the NSAC on the status of preparedness for the election... and sought to involve the NSAC fully in matters of security," the lawyer said, adding that security team was apolitical.
The AG also weighed in on whether tallying and verifying of presidential results was the sole responsibility of the IEBC chair, saying that the courts had affirmed it was the commission's duty in the Maina Kiai case of 2017.
"It is clear that, according to (the) Maina Kiai (case), the role of the chair is to declare results. The Office of the Attorney General wants the clarification of this court on this matter for future elections," he said.
