Rebel commissioners back Chebukati

The four rebel commissioners at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yesterday moved to mend bridges with their chairperson Wafula Chebukati after the bitter fallout over the presidential election.

The four, led by the Vice Chair Juliana Cherera and commissioners Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang’aya and Irene Masit openly supported a statement issued by Chebukati on Monday stating that the commission had been vindicated following accusations by the Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate, Martha Karua that they bungled the August 9 election.

“We state here that we agree with the statement of the chairperson of the Commission which was sent to the media yesterday.  We wish to reiterate that we stand by the rule of law and statutes that promote effectiveness of the work of the Commission,” said the four in a statement, referring to Chebukati’s statement in which he also protested the harassment and intimidation directed at the commission staff before, during and after the August 9 election, including the mysterious murder of a returning officer and attacks on commissioners at the national tallying center at the Bomas of Kenya on August 15.

 The four rebel commissioners, who were also on the receiving end of the Supreme Court judgment for causing the “boardroom rupture” at the commission also stated that they respected the judges’ verdict.

Stark contrast

“We wish to convey our appreciation to the Judges of the Supreme Court and confirm that we respect their collective decisions,” they stated in a signed statement. 

The statement appeared to be in stark contrast to the one they issued on August 15 at the Serena hotel, distancing themselves from the presidential election results, declaring outgoing Deputy President William Ruto as the president elect.

In a statement read by Cherera, the four commissioners accused Chebukati of conducting the tallying of the presidential election results in an opaque manner and questioned the final results as declared by the IEBC chair.

“We have done the 2022 general elections in the most effective and efficient manner and ensured all the challenges have been contained but some things need to be put out there,” said Cherera, who was flanked by Wanderi, Nyang’aya and Masit.

“We are rejecting the results the Chairman is about to announce at the Bomas of Kenya due to the opaqueness of the process during the final phase,” said Cherera.

She went on, “As we speak right now we do not know what the chairman is doing with those results, we have had concerns, particularly about the integrity of the IEBC technology and server.”

Cherera’s statement followed press conference by the Saitabao Kanchory, the Chief Agent of Azimio Presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who cited irregularities in the election and vowed to challenge the outcome.

They later swore affidavits at the apex court reiterating their position that the final results, as read out by Chebukati, were inaccurate.

The four were conspicuously missing during Monday’s press conference attended by IEBC commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu and the commission’s Chief Executive Officer Marjan Hussein Marjan.Asked about the absence of the four commissioners, Chebukati maintained that he had left it to their own conscience to decide on their next move.

During the hearing at the Supreme Court, Senior Counsel Paul Muite said the four commissioners did not break any law by distancing themselves from the declaration made by Chebukati. “I would like to submit that the four commissioners were fully justified in saying, we cannot own results we have not tallied and we have not verified,” he said.

Results tampering

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the four IEBC commissioners who distanced themselves from the outcome of the August 9 presidential election results did not provide any evidence of results tampering.

While delivering the judgment, Chief Justice Martha Koome, said the bench had taken cognizance that the four commissioners actively participated in the tallying and verification exercise from the beginning until just before the declaration of the results by the Chairperson.

“We note that aside from their 11th-hour walkout, the four commissioners have not placed before this court any document to show the result of the election was altered,” she said.

While affirming that the power to tally and verify elections rests on the electoral agency and not exclusively the Chairperson, the court noted that Chebukati had demonstrated the involvement of colleague commissioners.

The judges promised to issue a detailed report on the divisions within the commission within 21 days, even though terming the commissioners’ dramatic walkout from the Bomas of Kenya tallying centre on August 15 as an “afterthought.”