In the appeal, Ms. Karua, who served as Raila Odinga’s running mate for president during the August 9 elections for Azimio la Umoja, has supported her earlier allegation that uninvited individuals gained access to the polling agency’s election systems and changed the results.
She claims that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) gave external service providers access to its systems, allowing unauthorized users to access the systems and delete, edit, and upload data on voter registration and election results.
The former Cabinet Minister has also charged that the Registrar of the Supreme Court has not accurately reported the findings of the examination of presidential election materials.
She has questioned whether the Supreme Court can rule one way in one election and another way in another election, questioning the Supreme Court’s ability to rule inconsistently on presidential petitions under the leadership of Chief Justice Martha Koome.
She wants the regional court to order an investigation into claims of electoral fraud and malpractice in the 2022 presidential election from the relevant Kenyan government agencies.
She further requests that the regional court rule that the Kenyan Supreme Court’s decision on the presidential petition was not made in compliance with the terms of the law.
They claim that the rights of citizens, registered voters, and candidates were restricted by the activities of the Kenyan government through the IEBC and the Supreme Court.
The rights that are allegedly being violated include the freedom to obtain information in order to make educated voting decisions, the ability to run for office or vote for someone else, and the right for one’s vote to be counted.
They have alleged eight infractions against the Supreme Court, including the failure or refusal of Kenya’s top justices to guarantee that all parties to the presidential petition had a fair trial with equal protection under the law.
Specifically, neglecting to ensure that the IEBC, a public organization, provides the information required to uphold the applicants’, other petitioners’,.
They criticize the Supreme Court for determining that Mr. Wafula Chebukati, Chairperson of the IEBC, conducted an election unlawfully on the one hand, but failed to impose a legal penalty for the violation on the other.
“Authoritatively concluding that the IEBC chairwoman illegally ran an election while failing to hold them accountable. Using a proof threshold that is not suitable under the circumstances,” the petition claims.
In addition, they claim that in its 2017 ruling and consideration of all votes cast, the Supreme Court failed to uphold the relevant legal standards regarding the proper burden of proof for presidential election petitions.
The petitioners claim that the Supreme Court “failed to assert the applicable law on the obligation of the IEBC, rather than of the candidates, to ensure that the elections are free and fair and free from violence, intimidation, improper influence, or corruption; are conducted by an independent body, are transparent, and are administered in an impartial, neutral, efficient, accurate, and accountable manner.”
The IEBC disenfranchised them by improperly registering or identifying eligible voters. IEBC mishandled the creation, upkeep, and updating of an accurate and complete voter’s register. Through attorneys Donald Omondi Deya and Esther Muigai-Mnaro, they add, “It also failed and refused to publish the voter’s register in accordance with the tight timelines set in law.
Their combined reference alleges that the IEBC mismanaged the August 2022 elections by handing over crucial elements of the procedure to people it had no control over, including the electoral technology and results management.
Additionally, the commission headed by Wafula Chebukati did not conduct a thorough audit of the register or publish the entire conclusions of the audit as required by law.
