The judges want the duration of the hearing of Presidential election petitions increased from the present 14 days prescribed by the constitution to 30.
They spoke at the Judges’ Annual Conference in Mombasa yesterday (see page 10). Justice David Maraga observed they expect between 400-500 petitions arising from the 2017 poll.
There is tremendous political pressure in Kenya between the date a Presidential election result is announced and the date the government takes office. It was during such an interval that the post-election violence of 2007-08 erupted.
A disputed result heightens such tensions stratospherically, as was the case in March 2013, when Uhuru Kenyatta’s IEBC-declared victory was challenged at the Supreme Court by Raila Odinga.
The judges’ call is a well-though-out idea and should be supported. Let Kenyans never create a PEV crisis again or just move on, on a basis of doubt, fear and loathing. The electorate – and all others – can wait the extra fortnight the judges have called for.
