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Uhuru Kenyatta tells court to dismiss poll petitions

Sunday November 12 2017
uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday asked the Supreme Court of Kenya to dismiss two election petitions challenging his win.

In more than 10 affidavits filed in opposition to the petitions, President Kenyatta says the petitioners have made unsubstantiated claims.

He further says the petitioners were no more than surrogates, agents and mouthpieces of the opposition Nasa coalition and its leaders.

Public interest

"Accordingly, it is deceitful and misleading for the petitioners to masquerade as bona fide defenders of the public interest," he said in a statement.

The response states that apart from the frivolity and vexatious value, the entire petition is otherwise a patent opportunity of wasting judicial time and resources.
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Kenya presidential vote challenged

"The 3rd respondent states that the petition herein consists of a flip-flopped and distorted narrative, which fails to represent the true position in Kenya following the annulment of the results of the Presidential Elections that were held on 8th August 2017," he adds.

President Kenyatta accuses Nasa of deliberately setting out to make a brazenly unlawful attempt to ensure that no repeat election would be held as scheduled on October 26.

On the requirement for fresh nominations ahead of the repeat poll, President Kenyatta says the court did not invalidate the nominations undertaken on May 28 and 29, 2017 or any other component of the annulled presidential election.

Shadow of doubt

"The court merely invalidated the declaration of the presidential election," the President says.

He adds that there was no constitutional or legal provision requiring that fresh nominations be conducted during a fresh election under Article 140(3) of the Constitution.

On the contrary, he says, there are constitutional, statutory and judicial pronouncements that leave no shadow of doubt that nominations are not required during a fresh presidential election.

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