On Monday, August 29, the Supreme Court said that only four lawyers from each party will be allowed in the hearing of the presidential petition filed by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to annul William Ruto’s win.
Chief Registrar of Judiciary Anne Amadi noted that the parties had large teams and that the numbers will have to be restricted because the space cannot be able to accommodate all of them.
“We don’t have to have issues with crowd management during the hearing. Each team will have about four lawyers which are still being negotiated,” Amadi said.
However, city lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi on Tuesday, August 30, urged the Supreme Court to revise the directive which he termed “senseless.”
Ahmednasir, a close ally of President-elect William Ruto argued that the former Eldoret MP and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were defending eight petitions hence giving them a slot of four lawyers was not fair.
“The Supreme Court must urgently revise the rule of 4 lawyers per party it imposed. It is simply senseless. President-Elect William Ruto and IEBC Kenya are defending 8 (eight) petitions and you give them 4 lawyers, while a petitioner in a single petition will have 4 lawyers too…” Ahmednasir said in a Tweet.
Last week, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential candidate Raila Odinga, President-elect William Ruto, and Wafula Chebukati-led commission unveiled a battery of lawyers to represent them at the Supreme Court.
For instance, William Ruto unveiled a team of 54 lawyers and five technical members to battle the election petitions challenging his August 9th election victory.
On the other hand, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga assembled a battery of high-powered lawyers for an epic Supreme Court battle to overturn William Ruto’s presidential victory.
According to a report by the Star, Raila’s team comprises more than 30 formidable legal minds, categorized in three tiers.
