President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legal team is all hands-on in the petition challenging his victory.
The petition was launched last week on Monday by former Kilome MP Harun Mwau.
Two activists, Njonjo Mue and Khelef Khalifa lodged the second but separate petition challenging Uhuru’s victory.
The President has filed a total of 13 affidavits in his defense. His Chief agent Davis Chirchir and his deputy chief agent Winnie Gichu are among those who have sworn affidavits.
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has also sworn an affidavit.
This emerges even as NASA and Thirdway Alliance’s Dr. Ekuru Aukot applied to be enjoined in the case as interested parties on Sunday.
In a sworn affidavit by Musalia Mudavadi who is the head of the NASA presidential campaign accused Uhuru and IEBC of electoral malpractice.
Uhuru’s response to Khalifa’s election petition notes that by virtue of his ODM membership, his petition should not hold water.
He explains that ODM boss Raila Odinga withdrew from the race thereby sabotaging it therefore; he has no grounds to challenge the results.
Uhuru also responds to allegations that Jubilee Party was controlling the IEBC.
Opposition had indicted the commission after Raila’s withdrawal saying that Jubilee was coercing the electoral agency towards holding polls on October 26.
However, in response, the President termed this a mere rumor stating that IEBC set the date for repeat presidential race within the confines of 60 days given by the Supreme Court to conduct fresh polls.
On the aspect of recently enacted electoral laws, Duale in response through an affidavit quashed the notion that the aim of the new law was to diminish the role of technology in elections.
Mue and Khalifa in their petition cite that passing of the elections law was ill-timed and gives a leeway to manipulation of election results. They add that with this, it is almost impossible to challenge the results in court even if they were unconstitutional.
However, Duale spelt it out saying that the new law was meant to give direction on which way to follow in case election technology fails, which effectively gives the election credibility.
Duale goes on to state Parliament resorted to amending the elections law after the Supreme Court verdict that nullified August 8 polls to remedy the pitfalls of result transmission which compounded the apex court decision to nullify the polls.
“During the hearing of the Presidential election petition, it was evident that there was lack of clarity in the law relating to the transmission of Presidential results and the complementary system envisioned under Section 44 of the Elections Act,” he says as reported by the Star.
“Consequently, and in view of the above interpretation challenges, Parliament sought to bring clarity to the enabling law and regulation, and secure without doubt the expectations regarding the conduct and management of the election, as well as the parameters for invalidation of an election,” he adds.
The President will be represented by a team of 15 lawyers led by Fred Ngatia who represented the President in the last petition and also in 2013.
Others include: Kimani Kiragu, Katwa Kigen, Tom Macharia, Mayian Sankale, Hillary Sigei, Hannan el Katiri, Ken Ogeto, Annette Kithu and Carol Githae.
A pre-trial conference will be held on Tuesday before full throttle hearing of the case starts on Wednesday.
Chief Justice David Maraga will lead a seven-judge bench in hearing the petition that should be determined by November 21.