- ODM is non-committal on the reconstitution of the commission ahead of the 2022 polls despite its earlier tough stance against Chebukati and his team.
- The process to remove Chebukati and his team would consume a lot of time, said MP Eseli Simiyu.
Image: JACK OWUOR
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati and his two colleagues could still supervise the high-stakes 2022 presidential contest.
Key political players who were baying for their blood appear to have gone slow on the push to overhaul the commission and send the top brass packing.
Chebukati and the secretariat were accused by the Supreme Court of bungling the hotly contested 2017 presidential election that was found to have been marred by massive irregularities and illegalities.
The apex court annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta's reelection after Raila's successful court petition, triggering a repeat poll that the ODM boss boycotted citing massive rigging plans.
The Opposition coalition Nasa called for overhaul of the IEBC, pushing to send home not just the secretariat staff but also a section of the commissioners.
However, it appears that the former maritime lawyer who for the last three years has been living a day at a time may breathe a sigh of relief and complete his six-year term.
Image: WILFRED NYANGARESI
National Assembly Deputy Minority Whip Eseli Simiyu told the Star that while Chebukati and his team were not blameless, they might get away with it because of circumstances.
“At the moment we have too many issues we are dealing with. Our hands are full. They may get away with it as beneficiaries of inadvertent circumstances,” the Tongaren MP told the Star.
The Ford Kenya MP warned that the process to remove Chebukati and his team would consume a lot of time, resulting in "not having a general election at all in 2022.”
"I do not see the possibility of their removal. We are facing difficult times to again start talking about removing Chebukati and his team. I would have wished so but we are in an awkward position,” he said.
President Kenyatta on April 14 declared the four vacancies at the commission which were left following the exit of commissioners after a bitter falling out.
The seven institutions constituting the IEBC commissioners selection panel are expected to submit to the Parliamentary Service Commission their representatives by tomorrow.
The four commissioners are expected in office before the end of the year.
IEBC is currently operating with three commissioners, including Chebukati, Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu.
Four other commissioners – Connie Maina, Margaret Mwachanya, Paul Kurgat and Roselyn Akombe – resigned over lack of confidence in Chebukati.
On Monday, ODM chairman John Mbadi said the party is yet to make a decision on whether Chebukati and his team will take charge of the 2022 polls.
“For now I don't know their fate. The party will take a decision on the matter later but it would be upon Kenyans to decide what they want with them,” the Suba South MP said.
ODM had earlier adopted a tough stance on the reconstitution of the commission ahead of the 2022 polls.
Mbadi said there would be a lot of electoral laws likely to come up after the Building Bridges Initiative-driven referendum that would be key in delivering free, fair and transparent elections in 2022.
Initially, the Raila party was pushing through the BBI to have political parties nominate commissioners to the electoral commission but they were jolted by President Uhuru Kenyatta's camp.
“Now that the law is as it is and we have the process, let us get Kenyans of integrity that will manage the 2022 polls,” Mbadi said.
Former National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale said the three commissioners in office will conduct the 2022 polls alongside the four who will be recruited.
“The talk of removing the commissioners from office has been on the table for the last three years but no substantive petition has been brought forward. If they failed for the last three years, what evidence would they have now?” asked Duale.
According to the Garissa Township MP, the process to recruit the four new commissioners should be fast tracked so that Kenyans can have a fully constituted commission a year to the 2022 polls.
Image: FILE
“I want to thank the President for agreeing with the Krieglar Commission on having commissioners in office in time. Let the slots be filled so that the commission can start serious business of preparing for the 2022 elections," he said.
Chebukati and his team have defied all odds to break the jinx associated with their predecessors who were disgracefully ejected from office, including the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya under the late Samuel Kivuitu that presided over the 2002 and 2007 elections.
The Krieglar Commission recommended that the electoral body should be in place at least 24 months before a general election.
The Chebukati commission was appointed just seven months to the 2017 elections.
Chebukati had previously maintained that he was going nowhere since his contract and that of Molu and Guliye are running until their term expires in 2023.
“I haven’t had time to read the BBI report, but all I can say is that we came in office in 2017 January, our term of office ends in January 2023. So, as far as I’m concerned, our contract is on, and I’m not really worried about that," Chebukati was quoted as telling the 6th Annual Continental Forum of Election Management Bodies.
When he faced the BBI task force which collected public views on the reforms at IEBC, Chebukati dismissed the push to send all his senior staff home as ill-advised.
“Going into the 2022 General Election with a new set of commissioners and secretariat staff will not only seriously undermine the credibility of the elections, but may also result in political instability,” he told the BBI team in a memorandum.
Edited by Henry Makori