Odunga declares appointment of returning, presiding officers illegal

The High Court has ruled that the appointment of returning and presiding officers was irregular and illegal.

Justice George Odunga said on Wednesday that IEBC broke the law in naming the officers.

He determined that the process of appointment of CROs and their deputies was not in accordance with regulation 3 (2).

But Odunga said the court will not repeal the gazetting on October 12 due to public interest ahead of Thursday's repeat presidential election.

The judge said that since there was no prayer for cancellation and/or postponement of the election, the orders sought could not be granted.

He said the election will go on and the CROs and their deputies will have the power to perform their duties as their appointment has not been revoked.

The commission dropped more than 200 presiding officers, saying they have looked into the errors the Supreme Court said they made, and drafted a 10-point manual for staff.

The top court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory over NASA chief Raila Odinga in a ruling on September 1.

Former commissioner Roselyne Akombe announced drastic measures, including the manual, in an address on October 13.

She said: "With these guides, we have vowed zero tolerance to non-compliance. That is why we have, for instance, dropped over 200 presiding officers who made errors in the previous election. We have also dropped some ROs that after vetting...they were not competent."

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