Lawyer Nyamodi on Chebukati: It was his election to run, tallying and verification done exclusively by him

Advocate Paul Nyamodi is insistent that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati ignored all protocols, in regards to his role as the electoral body's top brass, when he announced the now contentious results of the August 9 presidential polls.

Speaking at the Supreme Court on Wednesday when he submitted his application in support of Raila Odinga's petition of the said contest, Nyamodi underscored that Chebukati constitutionally erred when he assumed the responsibilities of the national returning officer to tally, verify and announce the said results.

According to Nyamodi, Chebukati is not constitutionally mandated to assume the returning officer role despite the chairperson's assertation that he can temporarily act as a national returning officer under the right circumstances.

"There is no such position as the returning officer of the presidential election. It is a creation of Chebukati and it is created for the purposes of executing a very calculated scheme," said Nyamodi.

“It was his election to run as he saw fit…tallying and verification was done exclusively by him. The role of the national returning officer is not a shared responsibility and not subject to plenary discussion of the commission because at the end of the day this is how Chebukati tallied and declared the results."

Nyamodi went on to state that Chebukati likewise ignored the output of all high-ranking IEBC commissioners in the days leading up to the announcement of the presidential polls' results.

According to Nyamodi, the chairperson only involved the commissioners out of the spirit of teamwork and not because he valued their output, a fact he says is clearly captured in Chebukati's responding affidavit to Odinga's petition.

Nyamodi went on to ask the court to declare Chebukati's decision to act as the national returning officer and his subsequent move to announce the said results as unconstitutional.

"The manner in which those two regulations enable the chairperson singularly to verify and tally the presidential polls need addressing. It is my humble and respectful position that those two regulations are inconsistent with the provisions of Article 138C of the constitution because they enable the results to be verified and tallied in a manner other than envisaged by the constitution

"There is a prayer in the petition to declare those two statues as unconstitutional and I state for that reason that relief should be granted."