Martha Karua pledge ahead of Supreme Court verdict on 2022 presidential petition

As the nation awaits the verdict of the Supreme Court on the presidential election challenging president-elect William Ruto’s win, Azimo la Umoja presidential running mate Martha Karua has broken her silence calling for justice at the apex court.

The NARC Kenya party leader who was speaking at a funeral in Meru confirmed that the coalition will accept the verdict whichever way the ruling goes and will maintain peace.

She however outlined that for long-lasting peace, justice should prevail and expressed hope that the ruling by the seven-judge bench will deliver justice.

“When the verdict is out, we all respect that. We want to maintain peace but for this to be achieved there must be justice because peace without justice is not sustainable," Karua said.

Karua dismissed critics who have labelled Raila Odinga as a man who disputes the outcome of every election he participates in, noting that it is within Azimio coalition’s rights to express dissatisfaction with the results.

READ: Inside Raila’s meeting with legal team challenging Ruto’s win

She maintained that the coalition filed the petition in pursuit of the truth behind what preceded the declaration of William Ruto as the president-elect in a process that was marred with illegalities and irregularities.

“Our Constitution stipulates that if one is dissatisfied with the results, they have to seek legal redress and that is what we did,” she added.

Raila Odinga and Martha Karua moved to the Supreme court to challenge the results announced by IEBC chairman, Wafula Chebukati with four other commissioners disowning the results.

In the petition, Azimio argued its case that Ruto did not attain the 50 percent plus one requirement which is a statutory threshold for a winner in a presidential election.

The petition alleged that the IEBC electoral infrastructure was compromised with foreigners gaining access to the same and manipulating the results in favour of Ruto.

Azimio also told the court that Chebukati deliberately postponed elections in their strongholds to suppress the turnout, particularly in Mombasa and Kakamega thereby giving his competitor undue advantage.