Wafula Chebukati, head of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), has chastised the four opposing IEBC commissioners for their actions in the just concluded August polls.
Chebukati chastised the four commissioners, including Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi, and Justus Nyang’aya, for allegedly attempting to sabotage the process and undermine popular will.
Chebukati recounted the electoral process from its preparation in 2017 until the beginning of the post-election evaluation workshop in Mombasa, claiming the electoral board had operated unanimously but the quartet opted to breach their oath of office.
“The most unfortunate incident was the false accusation of staff, in some circumstances under oath, by Commissioners and fellow Staff that exposed innocent hardworking staff to arbitrary arrests and abductions, intimidation and harassment by security agencies and political goons, and other forms of obstructing election officials from conducting their duties,” noted Chebukati.
“In an unprecedented incident, Commissioners Guliye, Commissioner Molu, CEO Marjan, myself and other persons were physically assaulted and injured at the National Tallying centre at Bomas of Kenya.”
The IEBC chairman recounted the difficulties associated with the electoral process, including personnel working long hours during tallying, verification of results, and some members experiencing threats from government officials, therefore criticizing the commissioners’ decision to name the process ‘opaque.’
Similarly, the IEBC chair accused Azimio Executive Director Raphael Tuju of orchestrating a smear campaign against the chair and two commissioners, Prof. Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu.
“We were subjected to character assassination by Raphael Tuju who falsely tried to infer ill motive to a visit by the three of us when he was involved in a gruesome road accident that nearly claimed his life. He attempted to take advantage of a benevolent gesture of visiting him in 2021, on his own invitation, while recuperating from his injuries to achieve the malicious end of maligning our image before the public,” he claimed.
Chebukati was responding to Tuju’s claims that the commissioners paid him a visit in order to demonstrate their compromised nature as public employees.
