Siyad Abdille Abdullahi v The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission & 3 others

Section 85A(1)(a) of the Elections Act, 2011 requires an election appeal to the Court of Appeal to be filed within thirty days of the High Court's decision. The impugned ruling was delivered on November 2, 2022, so the deadline was December 2, 2022; the appeal was filed December 5, 2022. Relying on Supreme Court authority, the Court held the timeline is peremptory and confers jurisdiction; article 159's overriding-objective discretion does not apply to such a fundamental requirement, and rule 17(2) extension powers apply only to the Rules' own timelines.

Rule 19 of the Court of Appeal (Election Petition) Rules, 2017 requires a preliminary objection to be filed within seven days of service of the appeal. The respondents' objection was admittedly late. However, the Court held that an objection challenging jurisdiction is not defeated by procedural delay because jurisdiction is the foundation on which a court acts; without it, all proceedings are null. The appellant's own counsel conceded the appeal was filed late.

The Court distinguished between procedural timelines contained in subsidiary rules, which the Court may extend or abridge, and substantive statutory timelines such as section 85A(1)(a), which confer jurisdiction and cannot be extended. This accords with the decision in Wavinya vs IEBC and with Supreme Court holdings in Lemanken Aramat and Kidero vs Waititu that electoral timelines open and confine jurisdiction.