[Raila Odinga in a past event. The Supreme Court’s decision to expunge him from being a respondent could hurt IEBC and Uhuru. Photo/Nation]
The decision by the apex court to expunge NASA as respondents in one of the petition would be detrimental for both President Uhuru Kenyatta and IEBC says Moseti Moseti.
An application by Fred Ngatia for Uhuru was admitted by the court although judges failed to explain why they took the decision.
With Odinga out of the case, Moseti says, both petitioners will seek to know why his name was included as one of the contestant despite his withdrawal.
“This was a miscalculation because the petitioners have mentioned the issue of Odinga’s withdrawal repeatedly.
“The burden of prove now shifts to IEBC because they have to explain the inclusion. I also think part of Supreme Court ruling of 2013 in which withdrawal of candidate is mentioned will be revisited,” he says.
During the 2013 ruling, in paragraph 290, a candidate in repeat polls, should he abandon the repeat election, IEBC should conduct another fresh election in 90 days.
Seemingly, Odinga might have withdrawn based on the ruling although his plans may have been sabotaged by High Court ruling that included all candidates in the race.