The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has said that it is in the process of lodging an appeal in regards to the High Court ruling on its legality and constitutionality in relation to quorum.
Speaking in Juja today, IEBC chairman, Wafula Chebukati, said the commission will file an appeal on the ruling made on Thursday last week.
“As a commission we have engaged our lawyers and discussions are ongoing… in the course of this week, we shall be lodging an appeal in the Court of Appeal and it’s for the simple reason, sometime in 2018, the High Court presided by Justice Okwany made a determination that article 250 of the Constitution is what applies to the Commission,” he said.
Chebukati said the judgement relied on the commission’s statute of having five members as quorum but not the constitution that provides for three.
“There are two conflicting judgements on what constitutes our quorum which we would like the Court of Appeal to shed light on. We want to know should we rely on the statute or the law,” he said.
Last week, a five-bench judge, while declaring the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) null and void, also restrained IEBC from undertaking any processes in respect to the amendments.
They said IEBC lacked quorum of carrying out its mandate, including verification of BBI signatures.
The bench issued a permanent injunction restraining IEBC from conducting the referendum.
According to the judges, the commission requires at least five commissioners to make quorum, not three as its currently constituted.
He said they will be working closely with security officers to avert possible violence as witnessed in other by-elections that were recently conducted in Matungu Constituency.
The Chairman said their staff have been adequately prepared to conduct the by-elections in Juja and Bonchari and that they will be able to deliver free and fair credible elections.
He also added that they will strictly enforce Covid-19 protocols and that they will prevent those who will not have face masks from voting.
Juja Constituency has 184 Polling Stations and about 115,000 registered voters, according to the Returning Officer, Justus Mbithi.
The race has attracted 11 candidates who are seeking to replace, Francis Waititu ‘Wakapee’, who succumbed to brain cancer in February.
Among those seeking to succeed ‘Wakapee’ include her widow, Susan Waititu, who has vied on Jubilee Party ticket and Gorge Koimburi (People’s Empowerment Party-affiliated to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria).
Others are Zulu Thiong’o (Independent), John Njoroge (People’s Party of Kenya), Eunice Wanjiru (The New Democrats), and Independent candidates, Dr Joseph Gichui , Moses Mwenda and Kariuki Chege.