End of the road for Cherera Four as House asks Ruto to form tribunal
The fate of four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials was effectively sealed yesterday after the National Assembly recommended they be suspended from office pending further investigations.
The legislators adopted the report of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) which recommended that President William Ruto forms a tribunal to investigate the conduct of IEBC vice-chair Juliana Cherera and commissioners Irene Masit, Justus Nyang’aya and Francis Wanderi.
The committee chaired by Tharaka MP George Murugara (pictured) made the recommendations after adopting petitions filed by the Republican Party, Rev. Dennis Ndwiga Nthumbi, Geoffrey Lang’at and Owuor Steve Gerry that called for the removal of the quartet.
In its report, JLAC resolved that the petitions together with materials in support of their removal, be submitted to the President for further action noting that there were sufficient grounds for their removal.
“That the House resolves that his Excellency the President appoints a tribunal to deal with the matter in accordance with Article 251(5) of the constitution. That considering the matters to which the petitions herein relate, the House resolves that his Excellency the President suspends the commissioners pending the determination of the tribunal,” reads the report.
“That the House finds that the petitions discloses the grounds for the removal from office of Ms Julina Cherera, Ms Irene Cherop Masit, Mr Francis Mathenge Wanderi and Mr Justus Abonyo Nyang’aya as commissioners of IEBC,” adds the report.
The tabling of the report, however, sparked intense debate with opposition MPs storming out of the House saying the process was a sham.
They threatened to call countrywide demonstrations in solidarity with the commissioners.
Led by the Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi and Minority Whip Junet Mohamed, the lawmakers maintained that the Azimio coalition would not take part in a process that “negates the spirit of the Constitution”.
