Mahat Somane says Ruto attained the 50% plus 1 vote requirement

Somane who was making his submission on Thursday dismissed claims by Azimio La Umoja One Kenya party leader Raila Odinga, the main petitioner in the case, that Ruto did not attain the 50% plus 1 requirement.

“The court should ask the question whether the 50% plus 1 was met and to that question, Your Ladyship, the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s answer would be ‘Get over it, it’s over!’,” Somane told the court.

“So to 50% plus 1, the court made its determination in 2013 on the votes cast and the rejected ballots, and in 2017,” the advocate went on, quoting Odinga’s previous petitions against the 2013 and the 2017 presidential election results.

“To the petitioner, I think the simple answer to that would be, get over it!” he concluded before yielding the floor.

In his petition, Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua claim, among other things, that Ruto was not validly declared President-elect since he did not meet the 50% plus 1 threshold and that Chebukati’s declaration is invalid, null and void.

They want the gazette notice declaring him President-elect be quashed, as well as an order directing IEBC to organise and conduct a fresh presidential election.

Odinga and Karua want the Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Martha Koome to uphold the decision of four IEBC commissioners who rejected election results.

Lawyer Somane at the same time defended the IEBC transmission system from claims by the petitioners that it was tampered with, saying it modelled on a blockchain system and is impenetrable.

“Our system is so good because it is based on blockchain;  it gives resources as required based on the number of people accessing the portal,” the lawyer told the court.

“The kit actually tells the Presiding Officer to retake the image if it is not clear, he then presses send and even without network connection, the image cannot be recalled. The form then hits the portal whenever the kit gains connectivity.”

According to the lawyer, some of the forms the petitioners have brought forth are “doctored”.

“All my forms have a date and time stamp to the millisecond and there are no forms transmitted at the same time, some of the forms that have been brought to you have been doctored,” he said.

Thursday marked the second day of the presidential petition case hearings. CJ Koome, her deputy Philomena Mwilu and judges Njoki Ndungu, Mohammed Ibrahim, William Ouko, Smokin Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola are set to determine the petition by Monday, September 5.

If the bench annulls Ruto’s win, a fresh election will be conducted within 60 days, while if the Judges uphold Ruto’s election, he will be sworn in as president on September 13.