Roselyn Akombe’s Exit Statement Lights ‘Fireworks’ at the Supreme Court

Lawyers representing petitioners challenging President Kenyatta’s October 26th victory were on Wednesday put to task by a Supreme Court judge and President Uhuru’s lawyer to explain the use of former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner Roselyne Akombe’s resignation letter to support their case.

In her exit letter, Akombe claimed the repeat poll “absolutely” could not be credible because it was being prepared by a “very divided commission”.

Lawyer Julie Soweto, who is representing petitioner Njonjo Mue argued before the court that the resignation of the former commissioner was a clear indication that the electoral commission was not well prepared to conduct the October 26th re-run.

“The only evidence is that the statement has been owned…IEBC has not denied that it actually came from Akombe,” lawyer Julie Soweto said.

However, Justice Jackton Ojwang’ asked the lawyer to prove that Akombe’s allegations could be admissible as evidence before the court.

“This is the basic law of evidence. You cannot have validity without the owner,” he said.

In a rejoinder, Soweto argued that the statement by Akombe had an IEBC letterhead and that chairperson Wafula Chebukati confirmed receiving Akombe’s exit letter.

“This is a written statement on letterhead. The documents are in the public domain so they should not be ignored.”

He added: “An inference of the truth must be drawn from the fact that Chebukati acknowledged the statement and referred to it in his affidavit and are part of the document that were sworn.”

Moments before she concluded her submission, President Uhuru’s lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi interjected, and accused Soweto of making a statement that cannot not be admitted in court.

“Who is making Akombe’s statement? You cannot make a statement made by the person without admissible evidence. My friend should tell the court the medium through which they are admitting these statements,” he said.

However, Soweto insisted IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati confirmed the statement when he submitted his affidavit in court.

“IEBC goes ahead to express his own views with regard to that statement. That in itself shows an admission of this statement by Akombe…The purpose of Akombe was to show the environment in which IEBC was operating,” she said.

“The chairman is admitting there is political interference within IEBC. He is admitting to Kenyans a week before the election that he cannot guarantee free are fair elections.”