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A man seeking to challenge the results of the presidential election yesterday wrote to the Supreme Court, seeking an order to stop the swearing-in of President-Elect William Ruto.

In a two-paragraph letter addressed to Chief Justice Martha Koome, Alfred Juma Ayora, a resident of Nairobi County, is asking for orders to invalidate the election of Ruto and deputy president-elect Rigathi Gachagua.

“I write to express the unsatisfactory nature of this year’s General Election results for presidential candidates announced by IEBC chairman  Wafula Chebukati (below) on August 15, 2022. I petition for the re-election of the presidential candidates,” reads his letter.

After presenting it to Judiciary officials at Milimani Law Courts, where the Supreme Court sub-registry for receiving presidential petition is situated, he was told to draft a petition instead. He was also advised to look for a lawyer to help him advance his intended legal action. The letter was, however, stamped as ‘received’ by the office of the Chief Justice. 

 Juma argues that it was his democratic right for the IEBC to conduct a free and fair election. He believes the results of the presidential election as announced by IEBC chairman Chebukati on Monday at Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi, are not credible following the decision by four members of the electoral commission to disown them.

 Postpone the swearing-in

“It is my hope that the court will consider my request and ensure my democratic rights are met. I request the court to postpone the swearing-in of the president-elect,” he says. 

Juma is the first person so far to approach the top court in the country seeking to challenge the presidential election results of the just-concluded polls. He, and any other person seeking to dispute the presidential results, has until Tuesday next week to have filed a formal petition. 

On August 15, 2022, Chebukati — after some fracas at Bomas of Kenya tallying centre — declared Ruto as the president-elect. Ruto garnered 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.49 per cent of the total vote, while his rival, Raila Odinga, got 6,942,930, which was 48.85 per cent of the total vote.