Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chair Wafula Chebukati could be kicked out before the much-anticipated 2022 General Election if the recent reports are anything to go by.
According to authoritative sources who spoke to Standard Newspaper, Chebukati could be on his way out together with commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu as part of the electoral reforms ahead of the 2022 polls.
It is reported that the move has been secretly orchestrated by a section of Raila’s cohorts though the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) top officials have dismissed the claims.
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati could be on his way out together with commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu as part of the electoral reforms ahead of the 2022 General Election. Photo: Chebukati/Twitter.
“I can say this with authority that the process of recruiting new commissioners will pave way for the sacking of the current team, and then we will get to the crux of the matter of reforming the commission,” the source is quoted.
However, Suba South Member of Parliament who doubles up as ODM chairman, John Mbadi, dismissed the wider scheme against Chebukati saying the best time to reform the electoral agency should be done after the Building Bridges Initiative has sailed through.
This comes barely days after President Uhuru Kenyatta in a Gazette Notice dated April 14, 2021 officially declared vacancies in the positions of four IEBC commissioners who resigned during the last electioneering period.
“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 7A (2) of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act. 2011. I. Uhuru Kenyatta, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, declare vacancies in the positions of four members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.”
The four include; Vice Chairperson Consolata Nkatha, commissioners Margaret Mwachanya, Paul Kurgat and Roselyn Akombe.
Chebukati took over the office from Ahmed Isaack Hassan in January 2017 after the opposition held weekly demonstration in the outskirts of Nairobi demanding the removal of the former IEBC over what it termed as conflict of interest.
Kivumbi.co.ke however understands that Chebukati’s five-year spell at the helm of IEBC has not been a walk in the park.
A 2019 report tabled in Parliament by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommended investigations against the commissioner over alleged conflict of interest in the procurement of electoral equipment at inflated cost.
