President Uhuru Kenyatta has questioned the criteria which the Supreme Court judges used to uphold the election victory of his deputy William Ruto.
Addressing the nation on Monday, September 5, Uhuru questioned whether the judiciary was consistent in making rulings in the presidential petitions.
In particular, he noted that the 2017 polls were nullified based on the electoral process adding that the 2022 decision was based more on the numbers.
“We must ask ourselves, is it about numbers or is it about the process? Which of these two is it? Can our institutions rule one way in one election and another way in another election without scrutiny?” he posed.
The outgoing Head of State noted that the court’s decision needed to be scrutinised so that the country’s democracy is made stronger.
“True belief and true judgements must correspond to the actual state of affairs but do our constitutional institutions meet these thresholds?
“While we must appreciate these institutions, we must hold them to account. Their truth has to be consistent and coherent. This is the only way we build our democracy.”
However, he maintained that the Supreme Court was the only body mandated to make a determination on the outcome, adding that he would respect the decision of the seven-judge bench.
Notably, Uhuru did not congratulate the President-elect for his win in the August 9 polls that was upheld by the Supreme Court.
President Kenyatta’s address came hours after the Seven judge bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome dismissed seven consolidated petitions which were challenging Ruto’s victory.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was the primary petitioner in the just concluded presidential petition.
Earlier, Raila’s legal team led by Siaya governor James Orengo expressed their disappointment in the verdict by the court even had he opined that the judgement to dismiss their petition was based on ideologies rather than the evidence presented in court.
“The court should have done was to order IEBC to open its servers with other election material presented before it. On the matter of intrusion by the Venezuelans, you can note that the court avoided speaking about it.
“What I can say is that they focused on ideological issues rather than looking at other issues on the part of the IEBC. For example, the 50 per cent plus 1 was ideological,” he stated.
Source-https://www.kenyans.co.ke/
Uhuru Questions Supreme Court Decision to uphold Ruto’s election victory
