The seven-judge bench presided by CJ Martha Koome and DCJ Mwilu had faced a tough task over the past week. The other judges were Smokin Wanjala, Isaac Lenaola, Njoki Ndung’u, Mohammed Ibrahim and William Ouko.
Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu has revealed that all of them had been under so much pressure over the weekend before coming to rule the final verdict on Monday 5th September.
She said that they had been working non-stop since Friday, getting little sleep to see to it that the verdict was correct.
“The seven of us have not slept since we parted company on Friday, and we thank you that you appreciate we worked under difficult circumstances.” She said.
Philomena Mwilu also noted that their phones were constantly ringing and receiving calls. They did not answer calls.
“We agreed when we left here on Friday that we would not pick up any of your calls. Some of you called us but we just couldn’t pick them and I hope you understand that we couldn’t.” She clarified.
On Friday, after the court hearing session with the petitioners and respondents, the judges drove to an undisclosed location where they would deliberate over the evidence. They resurfaced on Monday before giving the final verdict at noon.
Philomena expressed her gratitude to the counsels that took part in the hearing and appealed to them to advise their followers that the verdict was final.
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“Thank you for appreciating that it wasn’t our wish, we were doing the wish of the Kenyan Constitution 2010, the laws of the Republic, the facts of the cases that you placed before us and the evidence in rebuttal. We know that we are incomplete without this side of the bar, the advocates. We appreciate your industry.”
“We were impressed by the submissions you took and how deeply you believed in your client’s cases.” She said.
“The truth is that some 6 million Kenyans will not be happy today but that is the nature of the work we do and we hope you can advise your clients that it was what was expected. One side had to win,” she added.
Under Article 143 of the Constitution of Kenya, Ruto has been declared President of Kenya after meeting the threshold of 50%+1 of the total votes. Dr. Ruto is now set to be sworn in as the 5th President of Kenya, with Rigathi Gachagua as his deputy.
