Supreme Court registrar Esther Nyaiyaki has maintained NASA coalition filed four documents for their election petition after the deadline.
Nyaiyaki acknowledged receiving complete sets of 59 volumes of their petition and that on Sunday; lawyers representing Raila Odinga submitted more additional volumes-60, 61, 62 and 63 which were erroneously stamped as having been received on August 18.
“The same have since been rectified to reflect the actual date they were filed, that is, 20th August, 2017,” stated the court’s registrar as quoted by Daily Nation.
“Kindly note that this date is deemed as the actual date of filing volumes 60, 61, 62 and 63,” she added.
Further, in a letter to the NASA Chief legal team on Monday, Nyaiyaki said that they were missing three key documents required for the petition challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory.
“As at 21st August, our records are still missing one copy of volume 31, 55 and 56,” read a letter she wrote to Murumba and Awele Advocates and copied to IEBC lawyers, Iseme, Kamau and Maema Advocates and Ogeto, Otachi and Company Advocates as quoted by Daily Nation.
However, lawyer Paul Mwangi for NASA said the missing documents were not key to their case.
He explained that the documents were annexures missing in some of the main documents filed on Friday.
“They are Forms 34 A. They are not primary documents,” he said.
“However,” he added “a document is deemed to have been filed when it was paid for and, in this case, that was done before Friday midnight. That is the legal position.”
The late filing of the documents could scuttle NASA’s case at the Supreme Court.
IEBC lawyers on Sunday complained of the late filing of the documents.
“Upon enquiring from the Supreme Court, we were advised that you were still filing documents as at midday today.
Our client is concerned as to why documents are still being filed way out of time,” read a letter from Kamau Karori for the IEBC to NASA lawyers.
In 2013, a 900-page affidavit filed by the then CORD was thrown out by the Supreme Court on grounds it was filed beyond the deadline given.
Mwangi, the NASA lawyer also said they will challenge the request by the Attorney-General Prof Githu Muigai to be enjoined in the case as amicus curiae.
He said the AG has in the past showed his partiality. “We will contest his application. Previous positions he has taken in pre-election litigation clearly show he is partisan,” said the NASA lawyer.
The Supreme Court has 14 days to hear and determine the petition.
On Monday, Chief Justice David Maraga said all parties; Raila, IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati and President Uhuru Kenyatta should send their written submission by Friday, August 25 at 1pm.
IEBC is expected to provide all Forms 34 A, 34 B and 34 C today in line with the law which stipulates that they provide the documents 48 hours after being served with the petition.
By Pharis Kinyua. He’s is an online journalist and an author for Jamhuri News.