Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga with his running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka. [Photo/capitalfm.co.ke]
The National Super Alliance (Nasa) on Monday told court that the IEBC should postpone the August 8 general elections should the electronic system fail.
Nasa lawyers told a three-judge bench that the electoral body had failed to put in place a complementary system as required by the law.
Nasa told the court that should the electronic system fail on August 8, Section 55(b) of the amended Elections Act allows IEBC to postpone the election until a complementary system is put in place.
Opposition lawyers James Orengo, Paul Mwangi and Ben Sihanya argued that previous elections have been compromised by failure of technology.
Mr Mwangi said Kenya cannot go through “another compromised election.”
“They have failed to put in place the complementary system, consult relevant stakeholders or even engage the public to come up with the said system,” he said.
Nasa wants only electronic systems used to identify voters and transmit results without manual back-ups.
However, Jubilee lawyers Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi and lawyer Tom Macharia, said failure of the BVR systems and EVID systems should not be a basis for disenfranchising eligible voters.
“The opposition is trying to legislate its electoral agenda through the court and should not be allowed to do so in view of the doctrine of separation of powers,” said Mr Abdullahi.
IEBC lawyers PLO Lumumba, Paul Nyamodi and Edwin Mukele said the necessary legal framework was in place to handle any problems that may arise during the elections and results transmission.
Mr Lumumba said Nasa leaders had participated in the enactment of amendments to the electoral law to ensure credible elections.
Justices Francis Kimondo, Hedwig Ongundi and Alfred Mabeya are hearing the case.