A substantial part of the much awaited full verdict on the August 8 presidential election petition has been read out, finally giving reasons why the election results were annulled.
The Judiciary president Chief Justice David Maraga said they will only give out the main parts from their judgement because of time.
According to the Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, the electoral body failed in delivering on its mandate, losing Kenyans’ confidence in the process.
“The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) flouted the law and the constitution to the extent that they become the law themselves. On our part, elections is not just an event but a whole process, this is also described in IEBCs handbook,” said Mwilu.
Mwilu added that failure to provide forms 34A also played a key role in nullifying the results.
“After announcing results IEBC could not provide all Forms 34A arguing that presidential results were determined by Forms 34Bs IEBC was required to provide certificates of penetration tests on the transmission systems and also provide GPS location of KIEMS kits which was not done,” she added.
IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba admitted that IEBC was not in a position to supply the petitioner with all Form 34As, three days after results were announced and insisted presidential election was based on Form 34B which were all submitted. This raised questions.
Apart from duty to verify, IEBC has duty to ensure the system of voting should be simple, accurate, accountable and secure. Numbers must just add up. Kenyans endured long hours and cast vote then after that the system became opaque.
The August 8 polls were nullified by the court, which further directed that a fresh election be held within 60 days of the ruling.