of an election must adhere to. In this regard, counsel cited the case of
Speaker of the Senate & Another v. Attorney-General & 4
Others40, where the Court was emphatic that procedures prescribed in the
Constitution must be adhered to. Hence, it was urged in the alternative
that if Section 83 is to be applied to post 2010 circumstances, it cannot be
read to oust a constitutional imperative or to regulate any aspect of the
Constitution. Consequently, it was the Society’s submission that a narrow
reading of Section 83 which confines the provision to determination of
validity premised on an irregularity or technicality is good law.
[124] Counsel further submitted that while Article 140(3) of the
Constitution requires this Court to determine whether a presidential
election is valid, Section 83 of the Elections Act instead relates to voiding
an election. Counsel contended that “invalid” connotes the existence of
something that can be revived, while “void” has the essence of nothingness.
It was therefore the submission of the Law Society of Kenya that Section 83
is not applicable to the resolution of a presidential election dispute in that
context. That the test of invalidating an election is provided for under
Article 81 of the Constitution and not Section 83 of the Elections Act, which
ignores fundamental constitutional principles.
G.
ISSUES FOR DETERMINATION
[125] The main issues for determination as crystallized from the petition,
the responses thereto and the written as well as oral submissions by
counsel, are as follows:
40
Speaker
of the Senate & another v. Attorney-General & 4 others, Reference No. 2 of 2013; (2013) eKLR.
Presidential
Petition
No.
1
of
2017
50
|
P a g e