President Kenyatta, AG, Raila file formal appeal against BBI verdict
President Uhuru Kenyatta, Attorney General and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga have filed formal appeal against the High Court ruling on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill that was delivered by a five-judge bench mid last month.
Parties say the filing of the appeals may come with a change of strategy from the pro-BBI team.
Through Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto, the AG presented a list of 31 key points saying the learned judges erred in law and fact by declaring the BBI unconstitutional.
In a similar move, Kenyatta through his lawyer Waweru Gatonye also filed a 10-page formal appeal arguing the same.
In a case filed at the Court of Appeal, the Head of State expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling made by Justices Joel Ngugi, Chacha Mwita, Jairus Ngaah, George Odunga, and Teresiah Matheka on May 13, 2020, and that there are sufficient grounds to reverse their decision.
From the outset, Kenyatta is categorical that the determination by the Learned Judges was without foundation.
In his opinion, the judges acted contrary to the rules of natural justice by making a decision adversely affecting him yet he was not a party to the proceedings.
In fact, President Kenyatta reiterates to the Appellate Court that the judges contravened the law of the land by denying him equal protection and equal benefits of the law.
While expressing dismay over a decision by the judges to put him at the centre of the petition, Kenyatta insists that the suit that had been launched against him by those opposed to the BBI had been abandoned and ceased to exist prior to the commencement of the proceedings that led to the invalidation of the BBI process.
He also wonders why the judges proceeded to hear and determined issues, which he says, had already been dispensed with by a competent court of concurrent jurisdiction.
The Court of Appeal is currently holding a case management conference on the BBI appeal case.
Three appellate judges are presiding over the conference that kicked off this morning at 9 am at the Supreme Court.
The court last week directed all parties involved in the case to avail themselves physically.
