Light moment after Smokin Wanjala counters lawyer Kilukumi’s application of Solomonic wisdom

A light moment was witnessed on Thursday’s hearing at the Supreme Court where President-elect William Ruto’s lawyers were submitting their responses in defence of his victory in the August elections.

Senior Counsel Kioko Kilukumi, one of Ruto’s lawyers, caught the attention of Justice Smokin Wanjala with his call for the apex court to apply the Biblical analogy of King Solomon’s wisdom in determining the petition outcome and uphold his client's victory.

Kilukumi narrated the popular Biblical narrative of two mothers who gave birth at the same time and one of the infants died, then they both went seeking Solomon’s wisdom with each claiming the live baby.

King Solomon suggested cutting the baby cut into two so that each of the women could have a piece; and, while one of them approved, the other pleaded saying the child would rather just be given to the other woman while whole instead.

With this, King Solomon discerned that the baby’s real mother was the latter who refused for it to be cut into half, hence gave it to her.

In the same way, Kilukumi argued that the presidential election represented the baby, while the two mothers are his client Ruto and Raila Odinga, who is the petitioner in the case.

The lawyer likened the woman who was not the true mother of the baby, in the Biblical story, to Odinga, who he said that by asking the court to nullify the elections, was also seeking to have the metaphorical baby split into two.

“Today, you don’t have mothers competing for this baby, you have two gentlemen…each one of them claiming the baby. What does the petitioner ask you to do? Just like the days of Solomon, he is telling you, give me the baby, the baby is mine,” explained Kilukumi.

“During the days of Solomon, there was no DNA and therefore he could not easily make up a decision on whose baby is this. He (Odinga) goes on to tell you, if you cannot give me the baby, slice it into two.”

He went on to allot the metaphorical baby the name 'Baby Victory', whose DNA he said was enshrined in the IEBC's forms, ultimately calling on the court to rule in favour of Ruto as the duly elected winner of the August polls.

"Baby Victory has a clear DNA, its DNA is also captured in the original Forms 34A and 34B... don't divide the baby…Give it to the true mother of this child because no mother would want her baby chopped into two," he underscored.

“I urge the court to give the baby to the legitimate and lawful father, who is honourable William Samoei Ruto.”

Justice Wanjala, on his part, intimated that Kilukumi had left out the last bit of the Bible story, where the real mother of the child pleaded with Solomon to instead give the baby to her opponent instead of killing it.

In the same way, he posed a challenge to Kilukumi seemingly to inquire if his team was willing to give up the victory to Odinga instead of running the risk of having it nullified.

“You cited King Solomon, and the court treats Holy Scriptures very seriously…The protagonists were distinguished mothers, but here you called them the two gentlemen,” Wanjala stated.

“I also remember that one of the mothers who turned out that according to Solomonic wisdom could not have been the mother, was the one saying cut the baby, but the other one said No, let her take the baby because her interests were to preserve the baby.”

Justice Wanjala then began to add, “Would you be willing to advise…” leaving his next very obvious words trailing off as the court burst out into laughter.