Renowned advocates Paul Muite and PLO Lumumba have been dropped from the list of lawyers who will represent the IEBC in the fresh petitions filed against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

On Tuesday, the electoral body picked a team of eight lawyers who would be mandated with the onerous task of defending the announcement of President Kenyatta as the winner of the October 26 election.

The new team will be headed by Waweru Gatonye and will also include Kamau Karori, Eric Gumbo, George Murugu, Wambua Kilonzo, Kimani Muhoro, Mahat Somane and Lucy Kambuni.

The IEBC had in the August 8 election picked Senior Counsel Muite as its lead lawyer while Lumumba acted for the commission’s chair Wafula Chebukati.

The loss of the petition filed by Opposition leader Raila Odinga was followed by accusations of a poor defense strategy that could not match the legal brilliance of NASA’s team which was headed by Senior Counsel James Orengo.

At one time, Muite told the Supreme Court judges that his team did not have any objection to Orengo’s request to access the physical forms 34A and B.

The concession appeared to have come as a surprise to the rest of the lawyers and ultimately contributed to the nullification of the presidential election.

President Kenyatta is yet to announce his team of lawyers.