The Supreme Court struck out five memos from the IEBC that had been filed by one of the petitioners in the case.
Petitioners Njonjo Mue and Khelef Khalifa had filed the leaked IEBC memos to support their case.
Mue is the Chairman of ICJ Kenyan chapter while Khalifa is the chairman for MUHURI.
However, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s lawyers argued that they were not obtained procedurally and could jeopardize the case.
“They are clearly internal memos, without such request, it is best to assume that the memos were obtained illegally,” said lawyer Melissa Nga’nia representing Uhuru Kenyatta.
But the petitioner counsel led by Julie Soweto argued that the memos were in public domain.
Soweto added that the memos are a critical aspect of the case.
“They have been circulated broadly. The documents are important. The arguments here cannot stand. Public interest outweighs the objection by the two,” she told the court before a determination was made later on at the pre-trial conference.
The bench consisting six judges led by Chief Justice David Maraga also threw out a petition by a lobby group seeking punishment for NASA leaders for calling for a boycott on October 26 polls.
The Institute of Democratic Governance (IDG) had petitioned the court to among other things declare Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetangula, Musalia Mudavadi and James Orengo as unfit to hold public office.
Maraga in dismissing the petition cited it was not challenging the election of Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto and as such, it lacked merit.
“The matter does not fall under the purview of presidential petitions. If this court loses focus and succumbs to pressure to allow all petitions, it will not be able to determine them within stipulated timelines. We decline to grant the prayers but the matter will be heard after the determination of the two petitions before us,” said the CJ.
A request by the Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai to be enjoined in the case as amicus curiae was also turned down.
He was however, allowed to join the case as an interested party since issues raised by the petitioner touch on state officers where his office largely comes to play.
Justice Njoki Ndung’u in reading the decision noted: “We have gone through the application by the AG and unanimously agree the merits of the application meets the criteria and admitted as an interested party,” Justice Njoki Ndung’u said.”
The court is expected to rule on the presidential petition next week on Monday.