•In 2017, Raila lost to his handshake brother, retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and last year he lost to the incumbent William Ruto.
•Chebukati had already declared Uhuru as the president-elect, a move that did not sit well with Raila.
Image: FILE
Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati and opposition chief Raila Odinga are on a war path due to the August 2022 polls.
The polls happen to be the second one that Chebukati’s team presided over and Raila lost.
In 2017, Raila lost to his handshake brother, retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and last year he lost to the incumbent William Ruto.
It has not always been all war between the two as back in 2007 Chebukati was a proud member of ODM.
However, when he contested for the Saboti parliamentary seat in 2007, he lost to Eugene Wamalwa of the Party of National Unity (PNU).
After this loss, the former IEBC chairman left ODM and ventured into institutional management.
On January 17, 2017, Uhuru appointed Chebukati to be IEBC, replacing Issack Hassan.
The IEBC was established in 2011 under Article 88 of the Constitution. Its role is to manage elections and referendums and draw electoral boundaries.
Chebukati’s first task was to preside over the August 2017 elections where Raila was facing Uhuru Kenyatta, who was seeking a second term in the presidency.
The presidential results were, however, nullified, denting Chebukati’s reputation.
Chebukati had already declared Uhuru as the president-elect, a move that did not sit well with Raila.
The Supreme Court ordered a repeat presidential election that the National Super Alliance (Nasa) refused to participate in under the Chebukati-led commission.
Chebukati and former IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba then became targets of the Nasa principals who were led by Raila.
Nasa wanted the two to resign from their position but this was not possible at the moment as they were to preside over the repeat presidential polls.
Before the elections were conducted, IEBC commissioner Roselyn Akombe resigned while in New York saying “the commission in its current state cannot guarantee a credible election.”
Akombe also claimed that she was forced to leave the country because she felt her life was under threat, following the murder of IEBC’s ICT chief Chris Msando days before the election.
The repeat elections were held and Uhuru was declared the winner by Chebukati.
This further deepened the sweet-turned-sour relationship between Chebukati and Raila.
However, in March 2018 came the handshake and Raila, Uhuru became one.
Chebukati quickly embarked on IEBC, fixing issues that had been raised in the Supreme Court decision in 2017 and implementing them.
Raila and his troops still called for the resignation of Chebukati but the former IEBC chairman stood his ground.
In fact, the commission gained more momentum after Juliana Cherera (vice chair), Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Abonyo Nyang’aya joined IEBC and were sworn in on September 2, 2021.
The events of 2017 were to be replayed on August 15, 2022, when Chebukati faced a rebellion from the Cherera Four(Masit, Cherera, Wanderi and Nyang'aya), who accused him of making unilateral decisions at the tail end.
Chebukati as the then chairperson of IEBC had declared William Ruto the President-elect after he defeated Raila and two other candidates in the August 9 poll.
Ruto garnered 7.1 million votes, while Raila scooped 6.9 million votes.
However, his fierce competitor Raila rejected the results terming them "null and void" and promised a bruising battle at the Supreme Court.
He filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging Ruto’s win but the petition was dismissed.
The Supreme Court confirmed Ruto's victory in the August 9 election.
Similar to the aftermath of the 2017 polls, early this year, Raila and his allies embarked on a planned series of protest rallies, to resist Ruto's victory and to allegedly reveal Chebukati’s dirty hand in the polls.
On Monday, Chebukati issued a demand letter to Raila asking that he releases the video footage of an alleged visit he made to the opposition leader's home during the electoral period.
Through his lawyer Steve Ogolla, Chebukati has given Raila a seven-day ultimatum to release the footage or take legal action against him.
Raila had revealed on Sunday that Chebukati and former commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu visited his home and wondered why they claimed that some people tried to bribe them but they have not said why they visited his home.
"Bwana Chebukati anasema kuna watu ambao walikuwa wanataka kumhonga. Hata wale wenzake Bwana Guliye na Bwana Molu. Nataka niwaulize mlikuja kwangu kufanya nini? Waliniomba nini? Niko na picha yao wakicheza nitatoa," the former Prime Minister said.
This loosely translates to, "Chebukati is saying there are people who tried to bribe him, even his other colleagues Guliye and Molu. I want to ask them what did you come to do at my house? What did they ask me for? I have pictures and if they continue playing I will make them public."
Kenyans are now awaiting who will blink first between Raila and Chebukati.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)