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Lawyer George Oraro who is representing Attorney General Kihara Kariuki in the ongoing Presidential petition. [Samson Wire, Standard]
Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki is a neutral party in the ongoing presidential petition, his lawyer George Oraro has told the Supreme Court.
Making his submissions on Thursday, Oraro said that the visit by members of the National Security Advisory Council (NSAC) to the IEBC was not to intimidate the commissioners but to urge them to expedite the tallying and verification of results, saying that the country was in high tension.
"The mission was led by Kennedy Kihara and he was the only one who addressed their chairman and the other commissioners of IEBC," he said.
He says the NSAC visit was to ensure that the results announced were verified and transparent to avert public anxiety.
According to Oraro, NSAC was not met by their chairman when they visited, and they had to wait for four hours despite the rising tensions.
He says that the claim by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati that he was warned by Kennedy Kihara if the commission was to announce William Ruto of UDA as the winner then there would be violence and that the blood of the dead Kenyans would be on him, was a lie.
He says that NSAC did not meet Chebukati alone but in the presence of other IEBC commissioners.
He adds that Chebukati reported the matter to the police and made a statement, but did not mention to the police that he had been visited by NSAC and in his national addresses he never mentioned the visit.
He says the faction of the commissioners who were with Chebukati also recorded statements with the police, but did not mention this incident.
He says Chebukati and his team have not provided evidence on the allegations they made against NSAC, adding that all Chebukati is doing is soiling the name and character of others.
He says that despite the claim by Chebukati, IEBC went ahead and announced the presidential results, yet no harm was meted out on them.
Oraro defended members of NSAC, saying they are Kenyans of integrity who can't go against the oath of office that they took.
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