Nairobi — Lawyer Kioko Kilukumi has urged the seven-judge bench hearing the petition challenging President-Elect William Ruto's victory to use Solomonic wisdom in writing and delivering their verdict.
Appearing before the seven-judge bench at the Supreme Court, Kilukumi said the election victory belonged to Ruto and should not be divided into two.
"Baby victory has a clear DNA. His DNA is captured in forms 34As and 34B. Baby victory belongs to honorable William Samoei Ruto. Give him his baby. Do not divide the baby," Kilukumi pleaded.
He accused Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga who is the lead petitioner of seeking absurd orders from the court when he clearly knows he lost in the election.
"Today, you do not have mothers competing for this baby. You have two gentlemen claiming the baby. What does the petitioner ask you to do? Just like the days of Solomon he says; give me the baby, the baby is mine; then he goes ahead to say if you cannot give me the baby, slice him into two," Kilukumi said.
The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child.
Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two, each woman to receive half.
The real mother, unable to bear her son being killed, immediately offered him to the other woman, to save the child's life, whereas the other agreed to the proposal.
Solomon pointed to the first woman and said, 'she is his real mother'.
Kilukumi was referring to prayers in the consolidated petition where the Supreme Court was asked to nullify the August 9 election because the Commission had rigged it in favor of Ruto.
In the prayers, the petitioners also submitted that Ruto had failed to attain the 50 percent plus one vote required by law.
IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati, on August 15, 2022, declared Ruto the President-Elect after garnering 7,176,141 (50.49 percent) votes against Odinga, who got 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent).
After hearing submissions from all parties, the supreme court will issue its verdict by Monday.
