Ekuru Aukot Tells Supreme Court to Dismiss Election Petition Challenging Uhuru's Win

Thirdway Alliance presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot wants the Supreme Court to dismiss a petition challenging October 26th repeat presidential election filed by activist Okiya Omtatah, terming it as "incompetent".

Aukot termed Omtatah's petition seeking to nullify President Uhuru's October 26th victory as "incurably defective”.

“The petition, in form and substance, offends the mandatory provisions of the Supreme Court Act and the Supreme Court Rules 2017, hence the same is unattainable and liable to striking out,” he said.

In his petition, Omtatah argues that President Uhuru was irregularly elected and wants the apex court to order for formation of a caretaker government in preparation for a fresh presidential election.

He further argues that the withdrawal of National Super Alliance (NASA) candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka from the repeat poll effectively cancelled the election by operations of the law, thus triggering a fresh election.

Aukot however dismisses Omtatah's argument, saying that Raila and Kalonzo voluntarily boycotted the election and were not unlawfully or unjustifiably denied the right to participate in the poll and cannot therefore claim their rights to contest were infringed upon by the IEBC.

"In any case, Omtatah should have instead filed an election petition if at all he was dissatisfied with the poll," Aukot said in his response to Omtatah's petition.

“The petition does not disclose any cause of action since he has not established any legitimate interest that has been affected by the conduct of the fresh poll by the IEBC in compliance with order of this court,” Aukot added.