Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu explained the massive pressure they handled prior to offering the verdict in the Presidential petition filed by Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua.
In its final ruling, the seven-judge bench unanimously affirmed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati’s declaration of William Ruto as the winner of the election for President-elect of Kenya.
Mwilu stated that after parting from the petitioners and respondents on Friday, September 3, all seven judges—CJ Martha Koome, Isaac Lenaola, Njoki Ndung’u, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, William Ouko, and herself—proceeded to a hidden location to consider the evidence.
The judges, according to Mwilu, worked nonstop for three days without taking a break until emerging on Monday, September 5, just before they announced their verdict at 12:00 noon.
The seven judges did not answer calls throughout the three days of seclusion, despite the fact that their phones were constantly vibrating.
“The seven of us have not slept since we parted company on Friday, and we thank you that you appreciate that we work under difficult circumstances.
“We agreed when we left here on Friday that we would not pick up any of your calls. Some of you called us, but we just couldn’t pick them up, and I hope you understand that we couldn’t,” explained Mwilu.
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She also praised the lawyers who took part in the proceedings and urged them to tell their supporters to accept the decision as final.
“Thank you for appreciating that it wasn’t our wish, we were doing the wish of the Kenyan Constitution 2010, the laws of the Republic, the facts of the cases that you placed before us and the evidence in rebuttal. We know that we are incomplete without this side of the bar, the advocates. We appreciate your industry.
“We were impressed by the submissions you took and how deeply you believed in your client’s cases. The truth is that some 6 million Kenyans will not be happy today but that is the nature of the work we do and we hope you can advise your clients that it was what was expected. One side had to win,” she added.
Ruto obtained 25% of the votes cast in at least 24 counties, which is required by the constitution to meet the threshold of 50% Plus 1 of all valid votes cast.
“We declare the election of the first respondent as President-elect to be valid under Article 143 of the Constitution,” she announced.
Furthermore, the seven-judge panel ruled that the IEBC had to verify and count the votes before announcing the final results.
