Fred Ngatia to Supreme Court judges: Why you should not nullify Presidential election

Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia, the lead Advocate for President-elect William Ruto in the 2022 presidential petition, has poured cold water on the plea by the petitioners to have the August presidential election nullified.

In his submissions before the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday, Senior Counsel Ngatia defended Ruto’s victory as well as the conduct of the August 9th polls stating that annulling the election would be setting a bad precedent in the country.

He pointed out that the petitioners among them Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua were calling for a nullification of the election results without providing a solution that would guarantee “finality and stability”.

"After the nullification of the elections… no solution is provided but all they request is nullify the election. While considering that plea to nullify the election, we shall be acceding to a very dangerous trend in this country that if presidential elections are to be held and I’m aggrieved, not because of any error, but because I want to hold the country at ransom, I will walk to the Supreme Court and the election will be nullified,” submitted Ngatia.

On behalf of his clients; President-elect William Ruto and deputy-president-elect Rigathi Gachagua, Senior Counsel Ngatia pleaded with the court to send out a message, in their ruling, that the people’s choice is supreme and is no one’s entitlement.

He also called on the court to recall the effects of the previous nullification of the 2017 presidential election results.

“…please also consider the far-reaching consequences that we all experienced in 2017. Our request is… the voters did exercise their right. Hold them to that covenant. Do allow the country to now move forward. We cannot afford election mode in perpetuity,” said Ngatia.

He went on: “It is time for finality and stability. In doing so, you will be sending yet another signal to the political class that the country does not belong to them. This country belongs to all of us. No person should consider that there is an entitlement. Considering that there is an entitlement is to engage in an illusion. That illusion ought to be replaced by reality.”

“Let this cycle come to an end so that we can get back to our business, the business of developing this country,” Ngatia concluded.