Nasa leaders Raila Odinga (ODM), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper) with Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar during a rally at Laare Stadium, Igembe North, Meru County on Monday, February 27, 2017. Nasa and Jubilee have hired lawyers as constituency chief agents. [Photo: the-star.co.ke]
Jubilee and NASA will hire lawyers as constituency chief agents for August 8 polls.
The decision is seen to have been triggered by the Court of Appeal decision on June 23 that presidential poll results announced at the constituencies are final and cannot be changed in Nairobi.
This move signals the possibility of another legal duel at the Supreme Court as witnessed in 2013 where then Cord, now NASA, lost the case to Jubilee.
According to the Star, both coalitions are finalising recruitment of their lawyers.
However, a senior NASA official told the Star that Jubilee was copying their strategy after the opposition completed engaging lawyers a few weeks ago as Lawyer Danstan Omari agrees.
"NASA formed 47 teams of lawyers long ago. In every county, there is a team of lawyers. Jubilee is just trying to catch up now," he told the Star on Thursday.
The lawyers will be expected to monitor voting at polling stations where they will be on standby to advise local agents on sticky issues.
At the constituencies, they will monitor the tallying process and in the case of malpractices, they are unlikely to sign results declaration forms.
NASA wants the lawyers to ensure strict compliance with the law to eliminate what it terms the 'militarisation of elections'.
However, a top Jubilee official in Uhuru's reelection bid said lawyers would not be engaged as party agents but as volunteers to advise grassroots representatives to eliminate mischief.
"We have lawyers in the whole country who are Jubilee supporters. We want them to volunteer to be able to verify that what the returning officers are announcing is what is coming from the polling stations," the official told the Star.