[President Uhuru Kenyatta and Chebukati Wafula in a past event. Their lawyers disagreed on the next polls. Photo/Nation]
Electoral body IEBC was forced to drop its request to Supreme Court judges to allow them use ballot boxes that were used during August 8 elections in the repeat polls.
The poll agency is battling to redeem its image following a landmark ruling that nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory.
In a rare showdown, Uhuru’s lawyer Fred Ngatia opposed the request by Paul Muite to have the court grant permission to re-use he boxes.
In reference with the law, Ngatia said, the boxes and other election materials should be kept intact for three years upon which they can be disposed.
With barely 40 days to elapsing of constitutional requirement within which repeat elections can be held, IEBC is faced with a host of logistic challenges.
Earlier, Muite’s request had gotten a reserved backing from James Orengo, standing in for Raila Odinga, who however suggested that should the order be granted, the court was to give alternatives of keeping the voting materials intact.
But Muite was forced to drop the request following Ngatia’s concerns thus meaning that IEBC must purchase new ballot boxes.