Former Attorney General Justin Muturi has warned that prolonged court battles could throw the 2027 election preparations into uncertainty, urging Chief Justice Martha Koome to put the Judiciary’s election dispute machinery in place early.
Muturi wants the Judiciary to establish clear timelines and procedures for dealing with cases that could have an impact on the electoral process, saying parties should know how and when such disputes will be handled.
In a statement issued on Saturday, August 29, 2026, Muturi said the Judiciary had relied on special arrangements during the previous three General Elections to speed up the determination of election-related cases.
He said those arrangements offered useful lessons that should be applied as preparations for the 2027 General Election gather pace.
“The time to act is now—not when the country is already facing an electoral crisis,” Muturi said.
He called on Koome to ensure the Judiciary Elections Committee is activated alongside other relevant mechanisms that would deal with disputes arising before and during the electoral period.
Muturi said the process should be guided by strict, transparent and clearly defined rules to prevent cases from dragging on and affecting the work of political parties, candidates and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
He noted that election disputes are different from ordinary litigation because a delayed ruling can have an effect on preparations already under way.
“A decision delivered too late can have consequences just as serious as a wrong decision,” he said.
Muturi said the Judiciary should provide political parties, candidates, the IEBC and the public with confidence that election cases would be handled “expeditiously, fairly and impartially”.
He cited the ongoing dispute over the Linda Mwananchi name, as well as cases touching on IEBC procurement, election technology and logistics before the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB).
The Linda Mwananchi matter is currently before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), which has classified the dispute as urgent.
The case followed a decision by the Registrar of Political Parties to reject an application seeking to reserve the Linda Mwananchi Movement name.
The tribunal later issued orders temporarily protecting the group’s preferred political identity as the dispute proceeds.
Muturi said prolonged cases involving election technology and procurement could interfere with the IEBC’s preparations, particularly if decisions are not made within periods that allow the commission to proceed with its work.
He said political and legal disputes should be pursued through the available lawful avenues, but insisted that delays should not be allowed to undermine legitimate political participation or election planning.
“We will pursue our political and legal interests through every lawful avenue available to us,” Muturi said.
“But we will not accept a situation in which avoidable delays, whether deliberate or inadvertent, are allowed to frustrate legitimate political participation or compromise election preparedness.”
The former Attorney General’s concerns come as the Judiciary steps up preparations for election-related cases expected ahead of the 2027 polls.
In May 2026, Chief Registrar Winfridah Mokaya told the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that the Judiciary had prioritised election preparedness in its FY 2026/27 budget proposal.
The proposal included funding for the Judiciary Elections Committee and the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal.
The Elections Committee has previously helped coordinate the Judiciary’s preparations for election disputes, including training judicial officers on handling cases arising from the electoral process.
Muturi said putting the necessary arrangements in place early would help prevent legal disputes from creating uncertainty around the election timetable.
He said the public deserves an electoral process where disputes are dealt with within reasonable timelines and where court proceedings do not become an obstacle to preparations.
“Kenyans deserve an electoral process that is ready, predictable and protected from avoidable litigation delays,” he said.
“No court process should become a tool for trapping the election in uncertainty.”