We hope we will get justice at Supreme Court – Raila
By Wycliffe Nyamasege, August 31, 2022Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga says he will respect the decision of the Supreme Court on the consolidated presidential petitions before the court.
Speaking to BBC, Raila, who is challenging the victory of Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader William Ruto in the August 9 presidential poll, said he hopes he will get justice at the Apex court.
“We believe in the rule of law and we believe that the Supreme Court will be fair and just looking objectively at the complaints we have tabled. We have brought in there big volumes of evidence and we believe we have a very strong case,” Raila said.
He insisted that the systems of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were infiltrated by unauthorized persons and forms 34A manipulated, denying him victory.
“What we have seen is that there has been manipulation of results where you find that forms 34A which are the primary forms filled at the polling stations and announced by the presiding officer and which are supposed to be transmitted electronically were being intercepted by our opponents and were being altered. What was eventually transmitted to the tallying centre of the electoral commission was different,” he stated.
Raila says Form 34Bs manipulated
While casting doubt on the credibility of the election, Raila alleged that forms 34B were also doctored at the constituency level.
“We also found out that forms 34B were being changed at the constituency level. All these 34As which are supposed to be added to create 34Bs are in the same handwriting means that one person was in all various polling stations in the constituency. There is definitely manipulation and this is one of the reasons we are in court.”
The ODM party leader alleged that IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati bungled the election by excluding four commissioners from the important exercise.
“You have heard stories of Venezuelans who came here with expired passports supposedly having been hired by the chairman of the electoral commission without the knowledge of other members of the commission. They were found with sensitive materials which they did not declare. This is a very serious matter,” he added.
The four commissioners, who disowned results announced by Chebukati on August 15, claim the IEBC Chairman conducted the exercise in an ‘opaque’ manner.
Raila wants, among others, the seven-judge of the Supreme Court to order a retally and declared him President-elect.
“If that is not possible we leave it to the learned judges to come up with their decision… I don’t believe he (Ruto) is the President-elect. I think I should be the President-elect. He is a beneficiary of this electoral fraud.”
The Supreme Court petition hearing is ongoing at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.