Details are emerging of the behind-the-scenes efforts by State House during the 2017 presidential election petition to have Chief Justice David Maraga change his mind.
According to a new book, 60 Days of Independence, Kenya’s Judiciary through three presidential election petitions, which gives a detailed account of the games played away from the public eye, State House was keenly following deliberations by the six judges who were handling the petition.
The book is authored jointly by the International Commission of Jurists – consisting senior judges, lawyers and academia from the legal profession, and the Journalists For Justice
The Standard quoted the book saying that the house on the hill had snooped into the judges’ conversations as they retreated to make a ruling.
“State House was receiving live updates of the goings on including who said what and ultimately how the bench would vote which was annulling the outcome on a majority vote 4-2,” the paper reported.
As Maraga walked out of the room where the deliberations were going on, his phone rang and it was a call from State House following leaked information that he was headed to announce the annulment of Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in the August 8, 2017, presidential win.
The Supreme Court declared Kenyatta’s victory in the presidential election invalid and ordered a new vote to be held within 60 days.
Uhuru had been declared the election winner with 54% of the vote.
However, the judges said the election did not measure up to the demands of the law.
“[The election commission] failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution," a decision by four judges said.