James Orengo (L) and Julie Soweto (R), lawyers representing Raila Odinga in a presidential election petition at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, August 31. [Twitter]
Lawyers representing Raila Odinga in the Supreme Court presidential petition have argued that the August 9, 2022 presidential election was a product of craftiness by the IEBC and President-elect William Ruto.
James Orengo and Julie Soweto, who were the first to make their submissions at the apex court on Wednesday, said a vote manipulation scheme was hatched by the two respondents to ensure Ruto won the polls.
Citing affidavits by two people, Celestine Anyango Opiyo and Arnold Ochieng Oginga, Orengo and Soweto said there was evidence indicating that Odinga’s votes were reduced and added to Ruto’s in some polling stations.
This scheme, they said, was commonplace in the perceived strongholds of Ruto, especially in Bomet and Kiambu counties.
So elaborate and well-thought-out was the scheme, that the number of votes cast in the areas remained uninflated to avoid raising suspicion, said Orengo.
However, the lead counsel said, Odinga’s votes were reduced and added to Ruto’s to still match the number of votes cast.
“There was a systematic deduction of votes from Raila Odinga and the same number of votes that were deducted, were added to William Ruto. However, the unique things about this scheme was that the total number of votes cast remained the same,” said Orengo.
The lawyer said the pattern was replicated in other areas, and has the potential of changing the election outcome if fully scrutinised.
Orengo said this was manifest in the results entered in forms 34A at the polling stations, which were different from those recorded in forms 34B.
Form 34A is used to record presidential results at the polling station level. Form 34B, on the other hand, is a collation of all the forms 34A, and recorded at the constituency tallying centre.
Form 34C is a collation of all forms 34B. It is recorded at the national tallying centre, and it’s what the IEBC chairperson uses to establish who has won the presidential election.
Orengo said the discrepancies that they noticed in forms 34A and 34B accounted for more than 140,000 votes.
“That (discrepancy) has an impact on the results of the election. I invite the court to look into the votes garnered by each of the presidential candidates; the figures do not agree at all.”
Orengo’s co-lawyer, Julie Soweto, in her submission said despite the forms 34A sharing features such as serial numbers, stamps and agents’ signatures, the results that the presidential candidates’ agents had, were different from those announced by IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati.
In some 15 polling stations, she said, the difference was 2,793 votes.
“Figures are important because of the slim margin [of votes] that William Ruto got to be declared the presidential election winner,” said Soweto.
“For example, in Chepalungu polling station 1 of 1 [in Bomet County], Ruto had 109 votes, yet in Form 34A uploaded to the IEBC portal, he had 169 votes. On the other hand, 60 votes were reduced from Raila Odinga.
“This was the pattern in all 41 polling stations that we have sampled and annexed to the affidavits,” said Soweto.
The lawyer also questioned why in several polling stations, especially those in Central Kenya and Rift Valley, more voters cast their ballots for the president than other elective seat candidates.
The IEBC had, in their replying affidavit, said stray votes, violence and postponed elections in eight areas resulted in higher votes cast for president than some other seats.
A stray ballot paper, according to the IEBC, refers to the ballot paper dropped in the wrong category, for instance a marked MCA ballot paper dropped in the governor’s ballot box.
Soweto said the argument that stray votes contributed to a higher number of votes for presidency than other elective seats wasn’t convincing.
“In Kirinyaga County, for example, there was an average of 33 stray ballot papers per polling station. That’s not possible [naturally],” she said.
“That high number of stray ballot papers cannot be explained, and has not been explained,” she emphasised.
Away from the alleged discrepancies in the electoral forms, and the highlighted stray ballot papers’ irregularities, Orengo and Soweto called for the nullification of the presidential results, saying the IEBC’s divisions were testament of a commission in turmoil, hence not able to preside over transparent elections.
"We have a commission that is divided right in the middle. That speaks to a dysfunctional constitutional body that is not capable of presiding over an election,” said Orengo.
The senior counsel argued that IEBC’s results transmission system was breached in favour of William Ruto.
"The way that the commission dealt with the forms during upload and doBy Stephanie Wangari , The Standard
President Museveni's bush doctor, opposition leader, and former presidential contender Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye joined in denouncing a segment of Ugandans who openly welcomed Gen. Elly Tumwiine's death.
Gen Elly Tumwine, 68, the four-star general and a former Minister of Security in President Museveni's succumbed to lung cancer at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was admitted on August 11.
However, a section of Ugandans including Former Kampala Woman MP Contestant, Human rights activist, and poet Dr. Stella Nyanzi has celebrated the death of Gen Elly Tumwine.
Gen. Elly Tumwine and Dr. Stella Nyanzi frequently crossed paths during the protests in and around Kampala.
Gen. Elly Tumwine, who at the time served as the state's Minister of security, issued several arrest warrants for protesters, among them was Dr. Stella Nyanzi, and he allegedly pushed police to shoot unarmed bystanders.
In a poem written in German and published on social media while she is in exile, Stella Nyanzi said that Gen. Elly Tumwine was justified to die and that no one would miss him.
Gen. Elly Tumwine should even go to hell, Dr. Stella Nyanzi stated in poem titled “THE ONE-EYED WIZARD IS DEAD!
And as it reads below.
Somebody run and tell my lover,
The one-eyed singing wizard is dead!
The Ugandan opposition will not bother
Pretending that we’ll miss his head!
Go to hell, singing wizard!
Godspeed to the fire of hell.
Go to the devil, one-eyed lizard!
You threatened murder of protesters as well
As unleashing of bullets to the gizzard
From police at the sound of your bell.
Somebody run and tell my lover,
The one-eyed singing wizard is dead.
The Ugandan opposition will not bother
Pretending that we’ll miss his head!,”
Dr. Besigye called such celebrations of a person's death "inhuman" and advised such individuals to exercise restraint.
Besigye stated, "I believe that we should refrain from passing judgment on people, especially after someone has passed away because at this time they are in the hands of God.
Furthermore, it's virtually impossible to know a person's relationship with God at the time of their death.
Even someone who has acted wrongly may eventually repent and rebuild their relationship with God.
I consequently oppose passing judgment on those who have passed away.
In an interview with informer East Africa at Gen Elly Tumwine’s funeral home, Dr. Besigye also stated that it was "unfair to indict someone who cannot defend themselves. Justice requires that I can only accuse you if you are willing to defend yourself so that the public can make a judgment.
If you feel that he offended you, it is now too late to accuse him; dead persons cannot defend themselves”
He first met Mr. Yoweri Museveni, the future President of Uganda, in 1967 in his primary seven lessons. Mr. Museveni had just finished his A-Levels and was working as a part-time teacher at their school before beginning his studies at Dar es Salaam University later that year.
Tumwine said to have shot the first bullet, in panic, to gain future fame in starting the five-year NRA armed struggle against Milton Obote’s government.
He was commander of the NRA and a member of the High Command during the bush era. He was replaced as the NRA commander in 1987, a year after they had taken power, by Gen Caleb Akandwanaho, alias Salim Saleh, the younger brother of President Museveni.
Gen Tumwine is number two of six original members of the then NRA High Command as of January 26, 1986, according to the UPDF Act, 2005.
The others are President Museveni, his brother Gen Salim Saleh, Gen David Tinyefuza (now David Sejusa), late Eriya Kategaya and Maj Gen Matayo Kyaligonza.
By virtue of being a historical member of the High Command, Gen Tumwine and five others are permanent members of the Defence Forces Council and High Command, both the army’s highest policy and decision-making organs.
This is not the first time Dr. Stella and others have celebrated the death of Ugandan leaders in a manner like this, January, 2022, Ugandan activist and feminist Stella Nyanzi through her social media accounts celebrated the death of former Ethics and Integrity Minister Fr Simon Lokodo who died in Geneva.
“I thank God you died, may you rot in hell,” Stella Nyanzi celebrates Fr Simon Lokodo’s death
Nyanzi said that Lokodo contrary to Bible teachings was a very bad man who promoted hatred against homosexuals and women at large.
“A Ugandan homophobe died today in Geneva. I join Uganda’s homosexuals to celebrate his death. Simon Lokodo, from your hatred we are delivered. Oh, how you campaigned to legalised queer death. You joined Ssempa preaching hatred to believers. You enforced Bahati’s homophobia with such rage. There is no sorrow for your demise. May you rot in hell for your homohomophobia,” She wrote.
Nyanzi added that Ugandan feminists will dance wildly in the mini- skirts the late hated so much.
“Lokodo, you shamed women’s bodies in the motherland. Alas how craftly you worked to penalize our exposed bodies. You championed the anti-pornography law in Uganda. You steered the policing of women’s sensuality and choice.
“There is no sorrow for your departure. May you rot in hell for your misogyny. We shall dance on the graves of Museveni’s sycophants who oppressed us in the service of Musevenism! Aluta continua,” Nyanzi added.
It shall be recalled that in 2015, Fr Lokodo ordered for the arrest of Nyanzi after she undressed to protest being locked out of her office at Makerere University.
“Even if she was offended by anybody, she behaved indecently. I condemn it in the strongest words possible and I have directed police to arrest her. She must be brought to book,” Lokodo was quoted.
President-elect William Ruto has suffered a major setback after the supreme court declined his last-minute bid to have all the electoral commission's commissioners barred from participating in the petitions challenging his win.
The seven judges of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Martha Koome threw out the application by Ruto seeking to have the six commissioners attached to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as respondents in the petition filed by Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya coalition party presidential contender, Raila Odinga.
Ruto wanted commissioners including Vice-Chair Juliana Cherera struck off as respondents
The other commissioners who were named as respondents in the Raila petition include Abdi Guliye, Boya Molu, Justus Nyang'aya, Francis Wanderi and Irene Massit.
The Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader wanted only the commission and its chairman Wafula Chebukati to participate in the petition.
Ruto argued that the commissioners should not be named individually since the election was not conducted by individuals.
Ruto wanted the four commissioners, who disowned the results as announced by the IEBC chair removed, from participating in the proceedings on grounds that they are proxies of Odinga and their participation is aimed to advance his case.
Court declines Ruto's request to have AG removed from presidential petition
The judges also declined Ruto's request to have Attorney General Kihara Kariuki barred from participating in the presidential election petition.
"Regarding the application to strike out the 13th respondent(Attorney General) from Petition E002, it is also not lost on us that the said respondent is the Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya. The holder of such an office has more capacity than any other litigant in this Country to fend off any attempts to join him in proceedings to which he ought not to be a party. As the Attorney General, he does not need the aid of the 9th respondent (Ruto) to accomplish such a routine task, " ruled the seven judges of the Supreme Court.
Ruto sought to have the AG removed as a respondent in the presidential election petition saying he has no role in the matter unless the court allowed him to participate as the friend of the court.
He argues that the Supreme Court (Presidential Election) Rules, 2017 do not envisage the AG as a respondent in a Petition challenging the Presidential Election. By Nancy Gitonga, K24
The Supreme Court of Kenya in Nairobi. File | Nation Media Group
The Supreme Court has limited the number of lawyers representing Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential candidate Raila Odinga and President-Elect William Ruto in the 2022 presidential election petition.
In a notice, the registrar of the Supreme Court, limited the number of lawyers representing Mr Odinga and Dr Ruto to four. The number of lawyers representing the Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was also limited to four.
“Take notice that owing to Covid19-protocols, limited space, security and structures of time, the directions regarding the representations of parties must be adhered to,” read the notice.
Other parties including IEBC commissioners Wafula Chebukati, Julian Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi, and Irene Massit were each limited to one lawyer.
Youth Advocacy Africa, Khelef Khalifa David Kariuki, Okiya Omutatah, Julia Nyokabi, were allocated two lawyers each while The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), LSK President, Attorney General, International Court Justice and the Senior Bar Counsel are also to be represented by one lawyer.
Earlier on, Mr Odinga had unveiled a team of 42 lawyers to help him argue his case against the election of president-elect William Ruto at the Supreme Court. Dr Ruto had also unveiled a team of 54 lawyers as well as 5 technical members to battle it out with Mr Odinga’s lawyers.
Dr Ruto’s team is led by Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia and lawyer Kithure Kindiki while that of Mr Odinga is led by SC James Orengo, SC Pheroze Nowrojee, SC Philip Murgor and SC Okongo Omogeni.
IEBC defence team made up of more than 10 experienced lawyers is led by former attorney general Prof Githu Muigai. He will be working with others including Kamau Karori, Abdikadir Mohamed, Eric Gumbo, Wambua Kilonzo, Peter Wanyama, George Murugu, Mahat Somane, Cyprian Wekesa and Edwin Mukele.
There are 8 petitions that have been lodged in the Supreme Court seeking to nullify President-Elect William Ruto’s victory in the August 9 polls.
In one of the petitions, Mr Odinga’s team claims they have evidence that the Supreme Court should use to nullify Ruto’s win. They have also accused IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati of interfering with the results in favour of Dr Ruto.
The Supreme Court is set to have a pre-trial conference hearing today at the Milimani Law Courts from 11am. By Ndubi Moturi, Daily Nation
The national information minister and government spokesperson has revealed that until Monday morning, none of the presidents in the region invited by President Salva Kiir to witness and grace the graduation of Unified Forces in Juba on Tuesday had confirmed their attendance.
Micheal Makuei told Radio Tamazuj Monday that he could not confirm how many presidents would grace the occasion and who of them would dispatch representatives.
“Up to now, the invited dignitaries have not confirmed their attendance of the graduation of the Unified Forces tomorrow (Tuesday) but the president has invited all the leaders of the East African Community and the regional grouping IGAD which include Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan,” he said. “The others invited are the leaders of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan.”
“Whether they will be attending or sending their representatives is what we do not know and we will know probably later today,” he added.
Makuei assured the people he said have been doubting the graduation of the forces that it will definitely happen on Tuesday.
“We want to tell the people who have been doubting us about the graduation of the Unified Forces that it will indeed happen tomorrow 30 August,” he reassured. “The troops are now doing their final rehearsals here on the ground and they will be graduated tomorrow.”
According to the minister, the 50,000 troops who constitute the Unified Forces as of now are not in one place but the ones who will be passed out tomorrow are the ones stationed in and around Juba City.
“The forces that are outside will be graduated in their respective areas. The graduation in Juba will be symbolic for all the Unified Forces,” he said. “My message to the citizens of South Sudan, particularly in Juba City, is that they should turn out to attend the graduation of the Unified Forces on Tuesday because this is the implementation of the security arrangements in the revitalized peace agreement.”
Makuei said the passing out of the Unified Forces is a big step in the implementation of the peace agreement and the president decreed that the day be a public holiday.
“It does not mean you should stay in your house but that you should come and attend the function so I appeal to the people to come and attend the ceremony,” he urged.
The information minister also said the SSPDF peacekeeping battalion destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo is ready and that the council of ministers last Friday approved the funds for their deployment.
“Cabinet approved over US$ 6 million for the deployment of the SSPDF peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they will go when they are ready,” he said.
Meanwhile, SSPDF Spokesman Gen. Lul Ruai confirmed that more than 10,000 out of 27,000 troops in Greater Equatoria, will be graduated in Juba drawn from the training grounds in Central Equatoria State.
“The Unified Forces passing out tomorrow are from the training centers of Gorom, Rajaf, Rambur, and Lologo and they are doing final rehearsals.
Gen. Lul said the army was facing logistical problems occasioned by flooding in some parts of the country and has been unable to deliver uniforms, food, and other items to the training centers.
“In Equatoria, the road to the Owinykibul training center has been destroyed by rains so the Unified Forces there will move to Torit to be graduated,” he said. “In Upper Nile State there is flooding so the Unified forces there will move to Malakal town to be graduated there.”
On when and where the Unified Forces will be deployed, Gen. Ruai said it will depend on the prevailing security situation in parts of the country.
“We have places where there are amplified clashes between civilians and where civilians even fight with the army, so these are the places where the Unified Forces will be deployed,” he said.
Gen. Ruai appealed to the forces who would not be passed out to tomorrow be patient and said their turn will soon come. - Radio Tamazuj
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