Supreme Court of Kenya rejects three applications

President-elect William Ruto's quest to bar LSK from presidential petition was rejected. [File, Standard]

The Supreme Court of Kenya has rejected three applications ahead of Tuesday, August 30 presidential petition pre-trial conference.

President-elect William Ruto's quest to have the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) barred from the case was rejected.

Ruto had argued that the LSK cannot be neutral in the matter as Martha Karua, who is a petitioner, is its member and also a former leader.

The society had filed an application to be joined in the petition as amicus curiae, saying it has the expertise to help the apex court reach a fair decision.

The Supreme Court has also thrown out Agano Party's request to be enjoined in the petition.

Agano was seeking to oppose the petitioners' lawsuit against the IEBC's declaration of William Ruto as president-elect.

The Supreme Court also rejected Ruto's application to have six IEBC commissioners' affidavits struck out.

The commissioners are Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit, Justus Nyang'aya, Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye

Cherera, Wanderi, Masit and Nyang'aya, christened the breakaway IEBC commissioners, said in their affidavits that the August 9, 2022 presidential election was not transparent, as chairperson Wafula Chebukati "unilaterally declared Ruto the president-elect" without properly tallying results from a number of constituencies.

However, commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye, in their affidavits, defended the commission, saying the results were a true reflection of the voters' will.

Ruto had argued that the commissioners (Cherera, Wanderi, Masit and Nyang'aya) were enjoined in the petition to create second-tier petitioners while in truth "masquerading as respondents".

The Supreme Court also rejected outgoing Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria's petition seeking to have Raila Odinga's presidential lawsuit struck out over Bomas of Kenya chaos on August 15.

The court further ordered that a Sh1 million deposit that Kuria had submitted while filing the petition be refunded to him.