The Supreme Court has declined the request for additional time requested by the attorneys for the first, second, and ninth respondents subsequently.
President-elect William Ruto is the first respondent in the case, with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua being second, and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Commissioner Abdi Guliye is the ninth respondent.
Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu said that this is due to time constraint stating that the main parties were given three hours while others will have an hour or less.
“Counsel appearing for various parties made certain applications necessitating these further directions, (one) requests for additional time for counsel 1st,2nd and 9th respondents over and above the time allocated and issued earlier this morning is hereby declined,” Justice Mwilu stated.
Through their lawyers, Ruto, Gachagua and Guliye requested the court to give them more time to submit their arguments.
However, the court highlighted it will not entertain any other filing of pleadings, but Ruto will be allowed to respond to affidavits filed by Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki during the hearing.
Kariuki claimed he would not intervene in the Supreme Court cases that attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election held on August 9.
Ruto’s declaration as the next president-elect is being challenged in eight petitions that have already been submitted to the supreme court, according to Kihara’s answering affidavit.
The Attorney General was named as a respondent in a case brought by John Njoroge Ngari and Okiya Omtatah, the incoming senator from Busia, as well as Youth Advocacy Africa (YAA), and as an interested party in another petition.
“Take notice that the Hon. Attorney General, the 9th respondent herein, pursuant to Rule 11(2) of Supreme Court Presidential Election Rules, 2017 which requires a party to indicate whether they intend to oppose the petition, hereby signifies to the honourable court that he does not intend to oppose the petition,” read the suit.
Other petitioners include John Njoroge Kamau, Daniel Kariuki Ngari, Juliah Nyokabi, Khalef Khalifa, Okiya Omtatah, Youth Advocacy Africa, and Reuben Kigame in addition to Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
By September 5, the Supreme Court is expected to have made a declaration on the petition regarding the presidential election.