By John Ikani
Presidential candidate Raila Odinga has formally filed a petition challenging the election results in Kenya’s Supreme Court on Monday, according to one of Odinga’s lawyers, Daniel Maanzo.
The petition was filed online Monday morning with a physical copy expected to arrive at the court’s registry in Nairobi before the 2p local time deadline.
“What we did this morning is to file the online copy,” Maanzo told a Kenyan television channel. “After today there will be four days for the other parties to reply.”
The physical filing will be done later in the day in the capital, Nairobi.
A source at the judiciary confirmed they had received a copy of the file.
Last week the election commissioner declared that the deputy president, William Ruto, had won the election by a slim margin, but four out of seven election commissioners dissented, saying the tallying of results had not been transparent.
Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja (Aspiration to Unite) coalition claimed it had enough evidence in the petition to prove misconduct by the electoral commission after the August 9th presidential election that resulted in a narrow win for Deputy President William Ruto.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s results said Ruto, 55, won with 50.49% of the vote against Odinga’s 48.85%
Last week Odinga said the results were a “travesty” but said he would settle the dispute in court and urged supporters to remain peaceful.
This is Odinga’s fifth time running and third time challenging his loss in presidential elections through the Supreme Court, having filed a case after the last two elections in 2013 and 2017.
In 2017, the Supreme Court ordered a re-election to be held, which was boycotted by Odinga who again lost to incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Supreme Court has 14 days from Monday to hear Odinga’s case and deliver a verdict. If the seven judges rule in favor of 77-year-old Odinga, they could order a recount of votes, a fresh election, or award Odinga the presidency.
