Ruto was duly elected, IEBC chiefs tell court

The electoral commission says the just concluded elections were conducted in accordance with the law and legal procedures, although Azimio coalition leader Raila Odinga has since challenged the presidential election results at the Supreme Court alleging the tally had involved “criminality”.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has also submitted to the Supreme Court the forms 34A, 34B and 34C, which were used to declare William Ruto as the winner of the August 9 presidential polls.

The documents will be used in court as evidence in the case challenging President-elect Ruto’s win.

A member of the Commission, Boya Molu, said the election process followed the election laws and the agency is confident there was no violation of any procedure, rules or regulation.

“We are satisfied with the election process. Election is a regulated process. We have followed the election law to the letter and we are very confident there was no violation of any procedure, rules or regulation, but that is for the court to determine,” said Mr Bolu.

He stated that the IEBC believes that the exercise was conducted in compliance with the law.

He spoke at the Supreme Court in Nairobi after submitting the elections result Forms 34A, 34B, 34C and 34D, being the tallying documents on which the Commission based the presidential contest winner declaration.

“Those (forms) are the things we have submitted and officially received by court and are now in the court’s custody.  We are done with our obligation of submitting the election material as per the court regulations. All those forms are also submitted in electronic format,” said Mr Bolu.

Asked about the electronic devices used in identifying voters - the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits and IP addresses to the online portal where presidential election results were published, Mr Bolu said if court makes an order for submission of the same the Commission will comply.

Mr Bolu further said the IEBC will file its response to the petitions before August 27.

In regard to the split in the Commission and suing of the IEBC commissioners by the Petitioners, Mr Bolu declined to comment.

On the issue of whether the commissioners will file their individual responses to the petitions since they have also been sued, Mr Bolu said they will discuss the matter while filling the IEBC’s responses in the case.

He was accompanied by the Commission’s chief executive officer Marjan Hussein, who also declined to comment on the issue.