IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati stares at a possible 6 months jail term for denying Raila Odinga access to servers after the 2017 General Election.
A resident of Mombasa moved to court on Tuesday, September 27, compelling it to punish Wafula Chebukati for not ensuring Independent, Election, and Boundaries Commission to open up election transmission results servers to Kenyans and Raila Odinga.
According to Khelef Khalifa, the Supreme Court ordered IEBC to grant Raila Odinga and court-appointed IT experts read-only access to servers used in the 2017 presidential election but Chebukati’s team is yet to honor the ruling.
He said that Chebukati is violated court orders, and should not be allowed to continue holding public office as the IEBC Chairman.
“For the dignity of the court to be preserved, it is imperative that my application be heard urgently and in particular, Wafula Chebukati is immediately committed to civil jail for six months for being in violation of the said orders,” Khalifa said.
The witch-hunt against Wafula Chebukati comes after a similar call from members of Raila Odinga’s ODM party.
A section of ODM members questioned the credibility of Wafula Chebukati and two other IEBC commissioners, finding them unfit to hold the 2022 General Election.
“It was not a unanimous decision among party members. There are those who wanted the three to go home and others who felt they should be allowed to conduct the next election. The party leader was also not keen on the matter,” a source told Standard newspaper.
Later, ODM changed its tune on Chebukati’s ouster after 3 other commissioners were appointed to the electoral body.
“If Chebukati can assure free and fair elections, there is no need to remove him. We have no personal problem with anyone in IEBC. All we hope for is that they conduct credible polls,” said ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna.
