Subsequent to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati’s declaration of William Ruto as the president-elect of a hotly-contested election, the Azimio One Kenya coalition flagbearer Raila Odinga rejected the results terming them null and void.
President-elect William Ruto garnered 7,176,141 of the votes, an equivalent of 50.49 per cent compared to Odinga’s 6,942,930 votes translating to 48.85 per cent of the presidential results announced on 15th August 2022.
Odinga vowed to seek justice saying he would pursue all legal and Constitutional means to see the results annulled.
Four IEBC commissioners, including Vice-Chairperson Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit, and Justus Nyang’aya, publicly criticised the results and distanced themselves from Chebukati’s announcement, claiming the last stage of the presidential results’ verification was ‘opaque’.
“We, therefore, cannot take ownership of this result that is going to be announced,” Cherera said at a hastily assembled press conference at Serena Hotel in Nairobi before the results were announced.
Odinga and other interested parties said that these irregularities, along with others, might cause the results to be thrown out. He also accused IEBC Chairman Chebukati of breaking the law when he declared Ruto the winner of the election alleging that he did not follow due process.
This indicates an impending legal dispute at the Supreme Court that must be submitted within seven days of the IEBC declaring the results and will be considered and decided 14 days after it is filed, as guided by the Supreme Court’s rules. The petitioners have until Monday 2pm to file their suites challenging the presidential results.
The Supreme Court panel of seven judges lead by Lady Justice Martha Koome has already secured a venue at the Conference Hall, Milimani and is finalising on preparations to handle the petition should any come calling at its registry desk.
The seven bench judges are; Chief Justice Martha Koome, Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Justice, William Ouko, Justice Mohammed Ibrahim, Justice (Dr.) Smokin Wanjala, Lady Justice Njoki Ndungu and Justice Isaac Lenaola.
Chief Justice Lady Martha Koome
She serves as the conduit between the Judiciary and the other branches of government while overseeing both the Supreme Court and the Judiciary.
After earning her law degree from the University of Nairobi in 1986, Justice Koome proceeded to the Kenya School of Law the following year.
The CJ started her own private law firm in 1988 and later joined the Judiciary in 2003. During this time, she practised law in many different stations around the nation and served as a council member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
She then went to the University of London, where in 2010 she earned an L.L.M. in Public International Law. She was elevated to the Court of Appeal the following year,2011 and elected chair of the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association in September of the same year.
Lady Justice Koome has made a name for herself as an advocate for children’s welfare and women’s rights throughout the course of her more than three-decade career. She has held many leadership positions, including chairing the National Council on the Administration of Justice’s special task force on children’s issues, where she oversaw the Children’s Act review.
She was nominated as the runner-up for the 2020 UN in Kenya Person of the Year due to these efforts, among others on behalf of children, last year.
Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mbete Mwilu
Justice Philomena Mwilu has served in the Kenyan judiciary for 33 years.
She earned a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Nairobi and was admitted as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya in 1984 before beginning her legal career with Mutunga and Company Advocates.
She proceeded to work as a senior legal manager at Jubilee Insurance Company Limited before working as a board secretary at the Electricity Regulatory Board in 1999. Later, in 2007, Lady Justice Mwilu shifted to the Commercial Division of the High Court in Nairobi before moving on to the High Court in Eldoret.
Later, she was transfered to Nairobi, where she worked in the Criminal Division before leading the High Court’s Environment and Land Division. In November 2012, she was promoted to the Court of Appeal, where she served as a judge of appeals until she was named the Deputy Chief Justice in 2016.
In addition to actively mentoring numerous boys and girls in secondary schools around the Republic of Kenya through visiting their institutions and providing much-needed advice, Justice Mwilu is renowned for her fervent advocacy for the rights of girls.
President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded her the Moran of the Golden Heart in 2017.
Justice William Ouko
Ever since his nomination to the position in 2018, he has presided over the Court of Appeal.
Justice Ouko has worked in the legal field for 34 years in various of positions.
Before being admitted to the Roll of Advocates that same year, he earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi in 1986 and a post-graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law.
Then, in 1987, Ouko began his career as an attorney at Mbogholi Msagha and Company Advocates. From there, he went on to work as a District Magistrate II until 1989. In 1997, he received a promotion to become the Judiciary’s Chief Court Administrator.
Justice Ouko was then elevated in 2002 to the positions of Registrar of the High Court and Accounting Officer for the Judiciary. He held the positions of Secretary to the National Council for Law Reporting and Secretary to the Judicial Service Commission throughout this time (NCLR).
While still working as a Registrar at the High Court, he was appointed as a Joint Secretary in the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Goldenberg Affair in 2003. After being appointed as a Court of Appeal Judge in 2012, he continued his studies at Egerton University and received his Master of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2016.
He was chosen by his peers to serve as the Court of Appeal President in 2018, a position he held until June 11, 2021. Justice Ouko participates in mentorship programmes for young people in schools and continues to raise money for underprivileged kids and run mentoring initiatives.
He was bestowed the National Honour of the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Justice Mohammed Ibrahim
Since 2011, Justice Mohammed has presided as a member of Kenya’s first Supreme Court.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi, and on January 11, 1983 and was admitted to the Roll of Advocates.
Later, he worked as an attorney for Messrs Waruhiu and Muite Advocates after being admitted as a partner in 1985.
He founded Mohammed Ibrahim and Associates in 1994, and in 1997 it grew to become Ibrahim and Isaack Advocates.
He has held positions on the boards of a non-governmental organisation called Legal Education and Aid Programme and the Kenyan Law Society’s council (LEAD).
At the beginning of Kenya’s pro-democracy movement, Justice Ibrahim was actively involved in civil rights advocacy; he was imprisoned without charge in 1990.
Justice (Dr.) Smokin Wanjala
He was appointed to the Kenyan Supreme Court in 2011 where he currently serves as a judge.
Justice Wanjala holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B., Hons.) from the University of Nairobi, a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, an L.L.M. from Columbia University in New York, a PhD in Law from the University of Ghent in Belgium, and several other degrees in law.
At the beginning of 1986, Justice Wanjala taught law for 19 years at the University of Nairobi, first as a lecturer and then as a senior lecturer.
Later, in October 2004, he was named Assistant Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), where he worked until 2009.
He is renowned for having overseen the writing and compilation of what is now often referred to as the Ndung’u Report. It was a report on the unauthorised and erroneous distribution of public lands.
He has a Presidential award from the Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS), which he got in 2012.
Lady Justice Njoki Ndungu
She sits on the Kenyan Supreme Court as a judge.
Both a Masters in Law (LL.M) in Human Rights and Civil Liberties are held by Justice Ndun’gu. She has a diploma in women’s rights as well.
She is the initiator of the Sexual Offenses Act of 2006, the Employment Act of 2007 modifications allowing for paid maternity and paternity leave, and the Political Parties Act of 2007 revisions addressing affirmative action for women in political participation.
Justice Ndung’u received the International Commission of Jurists’ Jurist of the Year Award and the UN Person of the Year in Kenya awards in 2006.
In 2006, she was given the Presidential Commendation of the Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) level, and she was subsequently given the position of Chief of the Burning Spear (CBS).
Justice Isaac Lenaola
The Kenya Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) recognised him as the Jurist of the Year (2019).
Justice Lenaola is a member of the Constitution and Human Rights Division of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Lenaola graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi in 1990.
He then enrolled in the Kenya School of Law, where he remained until being admitted to the bar the following year.
He currently serves as a judge in the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone (RSCL), which he was appointed to in 2013.
Judge Lenaola previously served as the Presiding Judge of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi, where he rendered groundbreaking judgments on a variety of legal issues, including human rights, devolution, and the separation of powers. Judge Lenaola was appointed to the Supreme Court after that position.
He also serves as the head of the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ) and the president of the Strathmore Institute for Advanced Studies in International Criminal Justice (SIASIC). He holds fellowships from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and McLaughlin College at York University in Toronto, Canada (FCIArb).
He was given the title of Chief of the Burning Spear (CBS) in July 2022 and is a recipient of the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) award.