NAIROBI, Kenya – Aug,20 – The rift between commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) appears to be getting wider and wider after the poll body’s chairperson Wafula Chebukati differed with four commissioners on the outcome of the presidential elections that saw United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate William Ruto declared president-Elect.
IEBC vice chairperson Juliana Cherera, alongside commissioner, Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi, and Irene Masit distanced themselves from the concluded presidential elections saying that they can not take ownership of the outcome.
In a statement read by Cherera on behalf of the other commissioners at Serena hotel they termed the process as ‘opaque in nature’.
“As you can see the four of us are here and not the Bomas of Kenya where the results are going to be announced because of the opaque nature of how this phase has been handled, we, therefore, can not take ownership of the results that are going to be announced,” she said on Monday.
The poll body’s chairperson Chebukati however maintains that the ‘rift’ is a result of the four dissenting commissioners wanting to ‘force’ a re-run of the elections.
“However, during a briefing meeting held on 15th August 2022 at around 3.00pm before the final declaration of the Presidential Election results, the four Commissioners i.e. Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang’aya and Irene Masit demanded that the Chairperson moderates the results for purpose of forcing an election Re-run contrary to their oath of office. This is tantamount to subverting the Constitution and the sovereign will of the People of Kenya,” said Chebukati.
He further said that he involved all the commissioners in all the activities of verification and tallying.
“The Chairperson refused to yield to this unconstitutional and illegal demand and proceeded to declare the results of the Presidential Election as received from the polling stations, and contained in Form 34A, in accordance with the law,”
Most Transparent Election
Chebukati said that the August 9 polls were Kenya’s most transparent elections since independence.
He cited availing of all result Form 34As that were uploaded in real-time on the public portal, the delivery of original Form 34As to the National Returning Officer for tallying and verification by the 290 Constituency Returning Officers and one Diaspora Returning Officer as some of the reasons the exercise was transparent and fairly successful.
Also, agents of all Presidential candidates are said to have participated in an elaborate verification process as Form 34C which contains the final tallies of all the 46,229 Form 34A from polling stations was also uploaded on the public portal for access.
“The alleged 0.01 percent increase in the Presidential Election results raised by the four Commissioners namely Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang’aya, and Irene Masit, is false and misleading. Please refer to the attached tabulation that provides a scientifically accurate analysis. We urge Kenyans to interact with these results and make an objective judgement,” said Chebukati who noted,”If any of the parties elect to file a petition, it is within their constitutional right and the Commission shall have an opportunity to respond and demonstrate in further detail the circumstances under which the election was conducted, results verified and outcome declared in accordance with the constitution and the law,”
Role Of IEBC Chairperson During Declaration of Presidential Results
Amid discussions on the procedure to be used before and during the declaration of presidential election results, Chebukati said that the constitutional mandate falls squarely on the Chairman of the Commission, who is the National Returning Officer as gazetted in Notice No. 4956 of 28th April 2022.
“The role of National Returning Officer for Presidential Election is not a shared responsibility and not subject to Plenary decisions of the Commission,” he said.
“There have been public discussions on the role of the Chairperson and Commissioners in verification, tallying and declaration of Presidential results. For the avoidance of doubt, the law provides that the Chairperson of the Commission is the Returning Officer of the Presidential Election. This is emphasized in the Court of Appeal decision in Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission vs Maina Kiai and 5 others [2017] eklr at page 36,”
The polls body has come under heavy criticism by a section of politicians on how the polls have been conducted.
The commission in turn has expressed concerns about the safety of their staff during this election cycle.
Chebukati said that some of his staff have been intimidated and harassed through profiling and arbitrary arrests.
“This has instilled fear within the staff, who are now unable to report to the office for duty. This harassment must stop forthwith. During the announcement of the presidential results, the Chairman Wafula Chebukati, Commissioners Prof. Abdi Guliye, and Boya Molu, and CS/CEO Marjan H. Marjan were physically attacked, assaulted, and injured by persons in the company of certain political leaders. We call for the arrest and prosecution of these assailants regardless of their political affiliation,”
Presidential Election Results
The tight presidential race saw Ruto emerge victorious in the announcement made by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati.
Chebukati said that Ruto garnered 7,176,141 votes representing 50.49 per cent of the total votes cast nationwide.
“He achieved the minimum number of 39 counties at 25 per cent,” he said.
“In accordance with the constitution and the law, I Wafula Chebukati, Chairperson of the IEBC, hereby declare that Ruto William Samoei, has been duly elected as the president of the Republic of Kenya under the provisions of article 138 of the constitution in the presidential election held on August 9, 2022,”
Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga emerged second in the race garnering, 6,942,930 votes. This represents 48.85 per cent of the total votes cast.
Other candidates in the race included Roots Party’s George Wajackoyah who garnered 61,969 representing 0.44 per cent of the total votes cast. He came in third in the race.
Agano party’s David Mwaure Waihiga who came in fourth garnered 31,987 votes which represent 0.23 per cent of the total votes cast.
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