The conclusion of voting on Tuesday will trigger a timeline within which key activities must happen before President Uhuru Kenyatta hands over power to the incoming government.
There are four scenarios that depend wholly on if the presidential election is challenged at the Supreme Court or not, and if the winner attains the required 50 per cent plus one threshold.
If the outcome of the results as declared by the IEBC meets the threshold and is not petitioned, the incoming president will be sworn in by August 30.
This is considering that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has until August 16 to declare the result of the presidential election and deliver a note to the Chief Justice and the President.
Where none of the four contenders meet the 50 per cent plus one threshold, a fresh election would be held within 30 days – on October 9, but with only the candidates who received the greatest number of votes.
In the event someone petitions the outcome at the Supreme Court, the earliest the court can deliver a judgement would be September 6.
The court has 14 days after August 23, the deadline for filing a petition challenging the vote outcome, to deliver a verdict.
If the apex court upholds the declaration by the IEBC, the new president has to be sworn in within seven days, in this scenario being by 2pm of September 13.
When the 2017 presidential election was nullified, a repeat election was ordered in 60 days by the bench led by Chief Justice David Maraga (Retired).
In the event there is no dispute, or at the point there are no further disputes, a committee established by law to organise the swearing-in of the president-elect sets in motion.
The team to be chaired by the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua is expected to hold the ceremony in Nairobi.
Article 141 of the Constitution provides that the swearing-in of the president-elect be done in public in the presence of the Chief Justice or Deputy Chief Justice, if the former is absent.
According to Assumption of the Office of President Act, 2012, the committee is required to publish the date and venue of the ceremony in the gazette notice.
The new president shall take two oaths – one being the affirmation of allegiance and the other being the oath or affirmation of execution of functions of office.
After the oath, the president shall sign a certificate of inauguration in the presence of the Chief Justice or DCJ, if the CJ is absent or incapacitated.
After signing the certificate, President Kenyatta would be expected to hand over the instruments of power and authority – in this case, a sword and the Constitution.
The Deputy President-elect would then take oath after which the new president would give his inauguration speech to the nation.
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