Azimio La Umoja deputy presidential candidate, Martha Karua, filed a petition at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) in Tanzania to oppose the Supreme Court ruling that upheld President William Ruto’s win.
Karua, alongside Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) director, Khalif Khelef, wrote to the court on Thursday, November 4, arguing that their August 9 election grievances were not addressed by the apex court.
“We are filing this reference not only to enable the truth to come to light but also so that we can secure guarantees of non-recurrence of failures in this sensitive area of elections in the future
“We took our dispute to the Supreme Court, hoping for a fair hearing. However, it undermined the rule of law by violating the right to a fair trial,” read the court documents.
According to the petitioners, the ruling made on Monday, September 5, was not a reflection of thorough investigations as it downplayed the nation’s integrity.
Furthermore, the petitioners argued that the apex court failed to oversee thorough scrutiny of the election technology.
Karau lamented that the recommendations made by the apex court on reforming Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were less effective since the existing mistakes were not punished.
“The Court also found that the Chairperson of the IEBC conducted the election in an unlawful manner, but these findings, again, had no legal consequences. Our petitions were dismissed with epithets and name-calling,” the documents read on.
Khelef and Karua also sued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), stating that it failed to address its problematic Voter Register, issues that were identified from the previous audits.
“The issues around the Register could, and did, affect the integrity of the results purported to be a razor-thin difference, announced in controversial circumstances,” they stated.
Karua reiterated that petitioners were denied access to the IEBC servers as directed by the Supreme Court, further defying the rule of law.
