More than 800 persons with disabilities have filed a petition at the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of the August general elections.

According to the petition filed through their organisation, the Inua Mlemavu initiative, the PWDs argue that they were denied an opportunity to vote for Member of the County Assembly, Senator, MPs, Women Representative, governors and Presidential Candidates.

They maintained that they wrote a letter to the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati, requesting to be provided with instruments to enable them to participate in the election but were ignored.

In their petition, they indicated that the outcome of the presidential election should be put in question as a good number of people with disabilities were left out.

more petitions seeking to invalidate Kenya’s presidential election results

The petition by PWD is among several others that have been filed at the supreme, seeking to invalidate Kenya’s presidential election results that declared former Deputy president William Auto as the winner.

 Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua are among various people who have filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the 2022 presidential results. Odinga claims that the election was marred by irregularities such as manipulation of figures and that agents of his sponsoring party, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya, were denied access to polling stations.

“The said result declared by Mr Chebukati is fraudulent, thus further invalid and null and void because William Ruto did not meet or attain the constitutional threshold of 50 percent plus one of all the votes cast in the election,”

The Azimio leaders also allege that the 2022 presidential election was rigged way before August 9 through 21 individuals —19 foreigners and two Kenyans —who had access to the electoral commission’s network systems and database.

The other petitioners are John Njoroge Kamau, four activists led by Khelef Khalif, Youth Advocacy Africa and Peter Kirika, David Kariuki Ngari, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and citizens Juliah Nyokabi Chege and two others. Another petition was filed by Reuben Kigame, who tried to contest but was locked out of the race.

Popularly known activist, Okiya Omtatah, who has been popular for filing petitions in court when leaders go against the law, has challenged the presidential election results on grounds that none of the four presidential candidates (William Ruto, Raila Odinga, George Wajackoya and Waihiga Mwaure) garnered 50 percent plus one vote as required by the Constitution.

Mr Omtatah says an analysis reveals that no candidate garnered 50 per cent plus one vote as required by the Constitution because the electoral commission did not factor in the untallied votes of people who were identified manually on polling day. The activist said there was no basis for the IEBC chairman to declare any candidate as duly elected president. Mr Omtatah alleges that Mr Chebukati did not factor in voters who voted manually, who total at least 140,028. He also wants an order quashing the results of the presidential elections announced by the chairman.

Kenya’s Supreme Court set a precedent in 2017 when it nullified the 2017 presidential elections on grounds of illegalities and ordered for a repeat poll within 60 days.