Constitutional lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has explained why he will not be representing President-elect William Ruto in the upcoming Supreme Court petition in which Raila Odinga has challenged the presidential election results.
Many Kenyans have taunted Ahmednasir, a renowned senior counsel who has acted in two presidential election petitions, as a valuable addition to the Ruto team.
However, the Grand Mullah, as he is popularly known, explained that he would have a conflict of interest if he represented the president-elect.
“I want but I can’t act for President-elect Ruto in the Supreme Court. I’m conflicted. In 2017 I acted for outgoing President Uhuru against Hon Raila.
“Now that Uhuru’s project (Hon Raila) is challenging Ruto’s victory obviously Uhuru will object and raise clients-Advocate privilege,” he said.
This comes even as various media houses claim that Ahmednasir has already been drafted into Ruto’s team.
Others who are said to be on the president-elect’s legal team are Kithure Kindiki, Nelson Havi, Kioko Kilukumi, Katwa Kigen and Muthomi Thiankolu.
However, the Grand Mullah said that despite not being on the list of Ruto’s lawyers, he would keep Kenyans abreast with the proceedings, specifically by pointing out weaknesses in Raila’s case and making a prediction.
“Starting kesho (Monday) I will run a Twitter commentary on the Supreme Court petition that will be filed by Hon Raila. I will appraise the strength & weaknesses of the case, the responses by the respondents and jurisprudential clues we should look for from the 7 judges. I will predict the decision,” he said.
Chief Justice Martha Koome had tried to introduce a law that bans lawyers and litigants from commenting on presidential election petitions brought before the Supreme Court.
However, last week the High Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional and its implementation did not involve public participation.
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