NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept, 13 – The chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Wafula Chebukati was among several Kenyans that were praised by president William Ruto for their great service to the country.
Ruto in his address to the nation after his inauguration said that Chebukati and his staff at IEBC have set the standards for the rest of the Public Service by remaining professional and raising the bar on integrity.
“Allow me to single out the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for special commendation for the courage to do the right thing under exceptionally challenging circumstances. As an institution, they have set a new standard in public service that is uncompromising, professional, and exemplary, raising the bar of the integrity of our public officials and institutions,” he said.
The chair of the poll body was also hailed for his firmness and decisiveness in the line of duty.
“It is appropriate to single out for special mention the chair of IEBC Wafula Chebukati for standing firm, resisting bribery, resisting intimidation and resisting blackmail, and doing the right thing,” said Ruto.
Chebukati took to social media to appreciate Ruto for his remarks saying he was proud of making contributions toward strengthening democracy in the country.
After the Supreme Court of Kenya unanimously upheld Ruto’s wins, he said that the commission felt vindicated as they have always followed the law of the land pertaining to election management in Kenya.
Chebukati said that despite several petitioners calling for the nullification of the presidential election results, the team at IEBC had put in place a robust and transparent election infrastructure that ensured votes cast were counted, electronically transmitted, verified, tallied, announced, and declared in line with Articles 81 and 86 of the constitution.
The August 9, 2022 elections were conducted by about 1,000 permanent employees alongside 400,000 temporary staff nationwide.
Despite this Chebukati decried the untold levels of harassment, intimidation, abduction, and threats issued against its staff members during the election period.
Tragically, Embakasi East Returning Officer Daniel Musyoka was also abducted, tortured, and later found dead while Gichugu retiring Officer Geoffrey Gitobu died days after the polls with Chebukati relating this demise to ‘election-related stress’.
“In this General Election, the abuse of IEBC staff reached an unimaginable scale. Apart from the two deaths, the commission and staff suffered other atrocities including Assault of the chairman, commissioners Prof Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu, and the Commission Secretary/CEO Marjan Hussein at the National Tallying Center during the delectation of election results,” he said.
A voter education coordinator was arrested by anti Terror police officers atoms and detained for three days while the manager of Election operations and a support staff were also allegedly abducted, tortured and held incommunicado for nine hours.
On the floor of the national tallying center, three IEBC officers were allegedly neatly arrested while rendering their duties even as a staff of a service provider at the National Election Communication Center was abducted.
officials manning heavy-duty printing and photocopy machines at Bomas were also harassed and physically assaulted.
Similar cases were reported in Kakamega, Narok, Kirinyaga, Nairobi, and Wajir where one person saw his leg being amputated as a result of being shot.
Offices of Key IEBC officials are also said to have been broken into with the interest Chbukati saying being accessing sensitive data.
“To date, no one has been arrested for these crimes committed against members of the commission and its staff. As it stands, no human rights and civil society organization have condemned these heinous acts meted on the commission and its staff,”
Chebukati concluded by saying that working for IEBC should not be a death sentence.
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