By Just as he was repeatedly quoted saying that ‘good things come to those that wait,’ he surely earned it. In the various reports following his petition, Raila Odinga promised his supporters that they would reach Canan with victory, and with great possibilities they have.
Days after the 8 August presidential election poll results were released, Raila Odinga together with this his team moved to the Supreme Court in petition. This was to their then belief, which they have now proved right, that Uhuru Kenyatta, the announced Kenyan President, had rigged the polls to earn the position.
Raila with his lawyers gathered and presented evidence to prove their claim. At a point they sought permission from the Supreme Court to look in to the IEBC servers, and they were granted.
With maximum and convincing evidence presented to the Supreme Court judges by Raila’s lawyers, Raila Odinga won the petition against Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential win.
On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court nullified Uhuru Kenyatta’s win and announced that the presidential election was to be done again, with more supervision to make sure that the same irregularities do not happen again.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), on late Monday announced 17 October, to be the date when the re-election would be carried out, a thing that the challenger, Raila Odinga did not agree to.
In his own view, Raila Odinga noted that the set date is too soon yet the loop holes in the IEBC commission have not yet been fixed. He said that there is need to identify those who will run the next election and how it will be run, before the date is set.
“We know exactly what transpired in these last elections, we know what the IEBC did and we know that if we were to go back there without first amending the loose ends, there will be no different results, and that’s why we will say there will be no elections on the 17th of October,” Raila was quotes as saying.
Raila suggested that the IEBC commissioners, and some of the commission’s staff including the CEO, Ezra Chiloba, must face the law for their illegal dealings.
“As far as we are concerned, it is not the date or the day that we are so concerned about. It is the preparations for these elections which is more important for us. The Court must deal with all irregularities which were committed. Beginning with the people who committed them, and also rectifying those irregularities.” Raila informed on Tuesday
He added that the role of the International Observers should also be scrutinized, as they claimed that the ‘election was free and fair’, moving so fast to sanitize fraud.
He however commended his team, for the great work done through the petition period and thanked the Supreme Court judges for standing by the law.
Raila Odinga on Tuesday 5 September 2017, recommended 24 or 31 October, the date to re-elect. He also noted that he still will not participate until he is sure all is settled.
Nevertheless, the new presidential election ballot will only this time bear Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta’s name, and it is from these two that the Kenyans will this time choose.
Report: Shamilah Abdallah Namuddu