- They had the chance to use the laid out procedures in IEBC or simply present their issues to the Supreme Court but instead used an unfortunate route.
- The four commissioners, other than resigning, must be punished for the actions that they took.
Image: FILE
In the history of our nation, there are moments that have either almost caused chaos, or some that have burnt the country. All these can be traced to the actions or inactions of electoral officials or politicians who used or attempted to use the electoral agencies for their own gain.
In 2007, the reckless approach that was taken by Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman Samuel Kivuitu, including announcing the presidential winner in the cover of darkness, caused chaos. There are thousands of Kenyans who have never recovered since then.
In this year’s election, the statements made by the four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission commissioners almost caused the nation to burn. They had the chance to use the laid out procedures in IEBC or simply present their issues to the Supreme Court but instead used an unfortunate route.
Calling a parallel press conference while the results were being announced was the first step to show that the four commissioners did not care about their duty to the country. It was a poor show of lack of commitment to the law and the Constitution and they should answer for this.
The four then made unfortunate claims that caused chaos at the national tallying centre, leaving their colleagues injured. The most ridiculous was the 0.001 per cent that they claimed had been rounded off to ensure that William Ruto won the election.
Kenyans online immediately called out the absurdity of their claim and it was at this point that the four should have apologised to Kenyans and resigned from office for misleading the country.
Further, their claims were deconstructed in court by lawyers as well as judges and it is unfortunate that they have never come out to say they were wrong. Now that they have been suspended and are facing a tribunal for their actions, they seem to be seeing the light.
Two of the commissioners, Juliana Cherera and Justus Nyang'aya, have resigned, but they cannot escape blame. They must be made to answer to the errors of commission and omission that led to the tension they caused in August.
Cherera and Nyang'aya owe this country an explanation of what happened and must be forced to appear before the tribunal. The four must tell this country was happened for them to take such treasonable actions after the election.
If it was not for the quick thinking and action of IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, the nation would have descended into chaos. We were headed to the trenches yet again because some of the commissioners could not honour their oath of office.
In just a few weeks, the tenure of Chebukati and two other commissioners will come to an end. This means that the country will not have an electoral commission because these four acted inappropriately in the last election.
There are a number of by-elections coming up and the commission is also set to review boundaries as dictated by the Constitution. However, the country is now held ransom by four individuals who decided to go outside the law either for themselves or other individuals.
It is important to note that anyone who acts in a manner that seeks to overturn or undermine the will of Kenyans must be punished. So the four commissioners, other than resigning, must be punished for the actions that they took.
Kenyans have a lot of questions about what exactly happened that day and these commissioners have a duty to give the country answers. If we do not force the answers out of them we leave a loophole that others might exploit in future when we may not have a Chebukati to save the situation.
At the same time, this gives us an opportunity to ensure that we set up a proper commission that is made up of people who have this country at heart. The men and women in the next IEBC must be people who honour Kenyans with their work like Chebukati has done in the last two elections.