President William Ruto now claims that there was a direct attempt to assassinate outgoing Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati during the August 2022 elections.
President Ruto stated that he is aware that a few actors were interested in compromising the elections and threatened Chebukati to subvert the presidential results.
“We know that there was a direct attempt to abduct Wafula Chebukati and murder him so that the commission would be paralyzed, or a compliant commissioner take over and subvert the people’s sovereignty,” he said.
“It was a hard, cold and lonely time, the threats were dire, the promised rewards lavish and the pressure relentless.”
He spoke on Tuesday at State House during the inauguration of a collaborative framework between the executive and commissions and independent offices towards the implementation of the constitution.
The Head of State added that there were Chebukati and two IEBC commissioners Abdi Yakub Guliye and Boya Molu as well as the CEO, Hussein Marjan, were “threatened with dire consequences for them and their families if they did not do the ‘system’s bidding and overturn the choice of Kenyans.”
“We now know that Chebukati, commissioners Abdi Yakub Guliye and Boya Molu as well as the CEO, Hussein Marjan, and their staff, were offered stupendous financial rewards to cooperate with the agents of impunity, but they bravely resisted,” said Ruto.
“We also know that they were subsequently threatened with dire consequences for them and their families if they did not do the ‘system’s bidding and overturn the choice of Kenyans. Again, we know that they stood strong and firmly said “NO!”.”
As a result, President Ruto praised the Chebukati-led team for remaining devoted and firm to their critical roles and exemplifying what he called integrity and leadership.
“It is this uncompromising commitment to his constitutional responsibility that enabled Chebukati to lead IEBC in learning effectively from the 2013 and 2017 elections to deliver an election that met the highest standards and, in fact, that was ‘unstealable’,” said Ruto.
He emphasised the importance of having vigilant independent institutions that are steadfast in carrying out their constitutional mandates.
President Ruto added that he will accomplish this by initiating a collaboration between the Executive and commissions and independent institutions to benefit the nation.
“If every institution rises to their highest potential and operates effectively, there will be an opportunity for coordination, collaboration, cooperation and complementarity, as well as healthy competition for the benefit of Kenya and our people.”
On Monday, during the launch of the Post Election Evaluation report, Chebukati said he exits the commission “a very content man”.
“Our tenure comes to an end on January 17. It is incumbent upon the commission and staff to adhere to the constitution. This launch marks my last duty as chairman, I exit as a very content man and I can say we did our best.”
Chebukati exits alongside commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu following the lapse of their tenure on January 17th.
