Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi took his time to read and analyse a Sunday Standard an article authored by lawyer Kethi Kilonzo on the Machakos gubernatorial legal tussle and deemed it “poorly written and researched.”
Giving it a score of two out of 10 – which could rank at a fail – Ahmednasir, who does not take any prisoners in arguments especially on social media platforms, said Kethi got her facts entirely wrong.
In the article, Kethi had indicated that the win by Governor Alfred Mutua was nullified by the Court of Appeal because a wrong form was used, clarifying that the petitioner, Wavinya Ndeti, succeeded in her appeal because the court could not ascertain/verify the votes each candidate scooped.
I Marked this article 2 out of 10. Full of errors & palpable distortions. Machakos gubernatorial election was nullified not because the wrong form was used but because the Court couldn’t ascertain/verify the votes each candidate garnered. The true result is at large even today! pic.twitter.com/qQ81FaWXux
— Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) September 9, 2018
His critique, which has been severally retweeted including by Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, a former magistrate, is likely to have bruised Kethi’s ego and brought to question her legal prowess.
She was the star of the 2013 Supreme Court petition filed by Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had contested the presidency on CORD ticket, to challenge President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win, which was unsuccessful. Ahmednasir was one of the leading lawyers in Uhuru’s defence.
In their ruling, Court of Appeal judges William Ouko, Mohamed Warsame and Gatembu Kairu said the election results that declared Mutua the winner failed the constitutional test of verifiability.
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However, Mutua who holds the judges erred by misapplying the provisions of the Constitution in relation to evidence produced, moved to the Supreme Court to appeal the decision.
He avers the judges failed to balance competing constitutional rights, including the right to vote and be elected and the right to have a verifiable election where the results are accurately collated.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission also petitioned the ruling.
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