A key part of Raila Odinga’s legal case about Kenya’s election hinges on the role of the chair of the Independent Election and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati.
Mr Odinga says he should not have announced William Ruto as the winner without the agreement of a majority of the commission, and thus “usurped” their role.
We know that four of the seven commissioners did not support the announcement of the result.
But there are different interpretations of Mr Chebukati’s powers. Some experts believe under the Kenyan constitution, he alone is empowered to announce the outcome of the presidential poll, acting as the returning officer for that vote.
They also point to the fact that he is under a legal obligation to do so within seven days of the date of the election.
However, other legal opinion argues that under the 2011 IEBC act, Mr Chebukati can only announce what the commission has “tallied and verified.”
This is a point that the Supreme Court will have to resolve.
