High Court judge George Odunga has recused himself from the procurement dispute involving the suspended audit of the national voter register.
The petition, lodged by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), will be assigned to a different judge on Monday.
Justice Odunga rejected the IEBC's request to forward the file to Chief Justice David Maraga to appoint a three-judge bench, citing that there were no exceptional circumstances to justify any delay in resolving the dispute.
Cord is challenging the award of the tender by IEBC to international audit firm KPMG to scrutinize the voter register after the countrywide voter registration exercise is concluded.
According to Justice Odunga, any party aggrieved by the outcome of the case has the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal. He stated that the submissions raised by the IEBC for his exclusion "do not meet the test for the recusal or disqualification of a judge."
The parties will now appear on Monday before the Presiding Judge of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, Justice Enock Chacha, for further directions. Cord is represented by Siaya Senator James Orengo, while IEBC is represented by lawyer Wambua Kilonzo, and Kiragu Kimani appears for KPMG as an interested party.
The recovered account cited reporting by Mediamax.
