114 4.7.1 Requests for Particulars 4.7.1.1 An election court may direct a petitioner to furnish the respondents with further particulars of the allegations set out in the petition (Rule 15(1)(e), Elections (Parliamentary and County Elections) Petitions Rules, 2017). This is usually done at the pre-trial conference, where the court lays ground rules for achieving the expeditious, fair and efficient disposal of the election petition. The election court may make an order for the furnishing of further particulars suo moto or upon application by any party to the election petition. 4.7.1.2 The purpose of an order for the furnishing of particulars is to clarify issues. It is not the purpose of the order to regularise or salvage an incompetent election petition, e.g., one that does not cover all the mandatory informational requirements (John Michael Njenga Mututho v Jayne Njeri Wanjiku Kihara & 2 Others, Nakuru Civil Appeal No. 102 of 2008, cited with approval in Ismail Suleman & 9 Others v Returning Officer Isiolo County & 2 Others, Meru Election Petition No. 2 of 2013). 4.7.1.3 It is on this premise that the party must be aware of the full case before it. It is not meant to provide a leeway for adduction of evidence under the guise of request for particulars. 4.7.1.4 The request must also not be used to burden a party with unreasonable demands for various pieces and aspects of evidence before the hearing. In Elizabeth Ongoro Amollo v Francis Kajwang Tom Joseph & 2 Others Nairobi Election Petition 5 of 2017, the election court relied on the case of John Kiarie v Beth Mugo & Others, Nairobi Election Petition 13 of 2008 in stating that: …the respondent cannot request for the adduction of evidence under the guise of making a request for particulars…a request for particulars was not meant to be avenue for a respondent to challenge the legality of the petition without the court having the benefit of hearing the complaints raised thereof…. ..the court is entitled to decipher the phrase ‘where necessary’ to mean that request for particulars will be allowed only in situations where it is exhibited that the request is or is for something, certain, compulsory, inevitable, obligatory, requisite or urgent. In all other situations where the request for particulars itself does not or the demands it makes do not exhibit those characteristics, the court need not exercise its discretion to allow such requests. 4.7.2 Amendment of Pleadings 4.7.2.1 An election petition filed in time and based on allegations of election offences may be amended with the leave of the election court (s 76(4), Elections Act, 2011). 4.7.2.1 The application for leave to amend pleadings must be made and granted within the time prescribed for challenging the relevant election, i.e., within 28 days of the declaration of the results of the election (s 76(4), Elections Act, 2011; IEBC & 2 Others, Kabarnet, Election Petition No. 1 of 2017; Ismail Suleman & 9 Others v Returning Officer Isiolo County & 2 Others, Meru Election Petition No. 2 of 2013; and Charles Nyaga Njeru v IEBC & Another, Chuka Chief Magistrates Court Election Petition No. 1 of 2013). 4.7.2.3 An amendment does not extinguish the previous pleading(s); it merely makes the document more accurate or to be in tandem with the changing circumstances of the case (Gerald Iha Thoya BENCH BOOK ON ELECTORAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION