CORD begins fight to overturn Uhuru ‘win’

By Geoffrey Mosoku

NAIROBI; KENYA: The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) files its petition at the Supreme Court on Friday to challenge the declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as President-elect.

The petitioner is Eliud Owalo, chief campaign manager of Prime Minister Raila Odinga who was the CORD presidential flag-bearer in the March 4 elections.

But in a new twist, three people have filed a petition with the same court asking it to rule on whether the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should have included rejected ballots in its final tally of the March 4 presidential votes.

The three are closely linked to the Jubilee Coalition. They are Mr Dennis Ole Itumbi, Moses Kuria and Ms Florence Sergon. Mr Itumbi runs a news and gossip Internet site, while Kuria is a media consultant and political commentator allied to The National Alliance (TNA).

It is now not clear which case the Supreme Court will deal with first, or if the cases will be heard concurrently. The court is supposed to listen and determine the cases within 14 days from the day of filing the case.

Under the Constitution, a person seeking to contest the presidential election has seven days to do so, following the declaration of the winner.

CORD has chosen Friday, ahead of Monday’s deadline following last Saturday announcement that declared Uhuru as president-elect.

Secretive way

The alliance said on Thursday they were finalising papers and documents required to file the petition contesting Uhuru Kenyatta’s election as president. “We would like to inform Kenyans that we are in the final stages of preparing our presidential election petition to the Supreme Court, which we will file tomorrow (today),” said senior counsel and Makueni Senator-elect Mutula Kilonzo who is also Education minister.

Kilonzo said CORD’s legal team led by senior counsel George Oraro and Pheroze Nowrojee are ready to go to court today to challenge Uhuru’s election.

But referring to the same, Uhuru on Thursday said CORD’s move would not stop him and Ruto from laying the groundwork for their government.

“We have no time to waste; we are not sure if Kenyans want to look at us continue to bicker while they continue enduring suffering. We are not reaching out to our competitors because we fear anything; we only want to start reconciling Kenyans.”

“We want to tell you we had our plan as Jubilee. We cannot waste any single moment on the grounds that we are waiting for a petition,” said Uhuru. He added: “The Judicial processes will proceed even as the Jubilee government prepares to lay the structures to govern this nation, as we must do.”

CORD said they would proceed to file their case in court despite what they termed as efforts by the IEBC to frustrate them by denying them important documents in defiance of a High Court order.

“It’s important to note that in spite of the High Court order issued to provide us with relevant documentation, the IEBC continues to frustrate this directive,” Mutula added.

On Thursday, the commission sent an SMS saying they had posted the required Form 34 on its website for all Kenyans to access.

“The 33,000 Forms 34 requested by CORD and used to tally presidential results in the General Election are posted on the website for all,” IEBC said in the SMS.

However, Lands minister and Siaya Senator-elect James Orengo said it was tedious to get the document as it was frustrating to download them with Mutula saying it was mischievous for the IEBCto post the documents in its website. “If the electronic tallying collapsed, and they used manual tallying, it could have been fair for them to give us hard copies of the requested documents,” Mutula said during a media briefing at the Serena Hotel.

CORD said it has evidence to prove the elections were bungled and that IEBC has been operating in a secretive way, with Orengo saying the electoral body’s chiefs were inaccessible.

“This is the most opaque commission, worse that the ECK of 2007. Even to knock on the door of the chairman (Issack Hassan) is like knocking the door of a general in a military camp,” he added.

The two who were accompanied by Busia Senator-elect and former Attorney General Amos Wako, Medical Services Minister and Kisumu Senator-elect Anyang Nyong’o and Ogla Karan also protested that the IEBC failed to grant them access to the registers used during elections.

Wako said IEBC had effected many changes in the registers and thus CORD was seeking all the different versions of the voters’ roll.

“There is a process which leads to a final register. First you close registration, open inspection and then clean up the register to come up with the final document. However, when the final register produces other versions, you ask yourself which is the genuine one,” said Wako.

Declare publicly

CORD further failed to disclose if Safaricom had forwarded to them all the information they were seeking.

Wako said they were justified to move to the Supreme Court adding: “It is not just a democratic right but a constitutional duty for any citizen to move to the Supreme Court if he feels the Constitution has been violated.”

Earlier, MPs, governors and senators-elect from the Kisii community addressed journalists at the same hotel where they threw their weight behind the CORD petition.

Led by Kisii senator-elect Chris Obure, the leaders said they had faith the Supreme Court will grant the country justice by delivering a fair verdict. They urged their Jubilee counterparts to declare publicly that they were willing to accept ruling.

Those present included Richard Onyonka (Kitutu Chache South), Ben Momanyi (Borabu), Simon Ogari (Bomachoge), John Arama (Nakuru Town West), Simba Arati (Dagoretti North), Elijah Moindi (Nyaribari Masaba), Timothy Bosire (Kitutu Masaba), Chris Bichage (Nyaribari Chache), Charles Geni (North Mugirango), Mary Otara (Kisii County Women Representative), Alice Chae (Nyamira County Women Representative), John Nyagarama (Nyamira Governor), Joseph Kiangoi (EALA) and Manson Nyamweya (South Mugirango).

Onyonka said the Kisii community is supporting the CORD’s quest for justice, saying the Raila Odinga-led coalition enjoys support across the country and has the right to petition the outcome of a General Election it feels was mishandled.

And in another press conference held at the Panafric Hotel, MPs-elect from the Kamba community reiterated and affirmed their total support for CORD’s petition.

They included Bernard Kitungi (Mwingi West), Jessica Mbalu (Kibwezi East), Joe Mutambu (Mwingi Central), among others.