Orange Democratic Movement presidential candidate Raila Odinga has formed a legal team to represent him in court battles during the campaign period.
The team will also handle legal matters on his ascendancy to power if he wins the August election.
Headed by Mr Paul Mwangi, the team will be based at Mr Odinga’s campaign secretariat in Nairobi’s Westlands area.
Mr Mwangi has been Mr Odinga’s long-serving legal adviser and has represented him in many legal disputes, including the ongoing defamation case lodged against him by former Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru over the National Youth Service scandal.
Sources within Mr Odinga’s campaign secretariat said the team of lawyers would travel across the country gathering material to counter any legal challenges that may arise should Mr Odinga win the polls.
The envisaged challenges include possible contention of the presidential election in the Supreme Court.
Other members of the team include Prof Ben Sihanya, an expert in intellectual property law, and Mr Elisha Ongoya, a constitutional lawyer.
The team’s brief evokes memories of the 2013 petition Mr Odinga lodged against President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory at the Supreme Court disputing the results.
Then, Mr Odinga was represented by lawyers George Oraro and Ochieng Oduol, with both Mr Mwangi and Mr Ongoya being members of the backroom staff. Mr Odinga, however, lost the petition.
