On Monday, August 15, four IEBC commissioners disowned the presidential results that were yet to be announced by Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
The four including chairperson Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi, and Justus Nyang’aya walked out of the national tallying center just hours after Chebukati declared William Ruto the president-elect.
In a joint statement issued at a Nairobi Hotel and read by Juliana Cherera, the four rebel commissioners ‘the results were unverified and never approved by the majority of the commissioners.
However, the electoral agency has since revealed that the four were being pushed by IEBC deputy CEO Ruth Kulundu.
In a report by the Standard, IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan said the agency has instituted legal actions against Kulundu over aiding the operations of the four dissenting commissioners.
Marjan accused her of among other things, convening a commission plenary meeting on August 26th without his approval or delegation.
“You impersonated the CEO and usurped his responsibilities as you purported to perform his duties without his authority or delegation. Moreover, Plenary Meeting No. 279 had already been held thus voiding the ‘other’ meeting of August 26 where you were secretary, rendering it illegal,” the charge stated.
Marjan further accused his deputy of threatening and intimidating junior staff. In particular, he accuses her of “attacking, insulting and threatening” acting director of voter registration and operations Moses Sunkuli and in effect “arousing in him a sense of fear and insecurity in his life.”
“It is a gross misconduct to use threats and intimidation or behave in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace as stipulated under Commission Human Resource and Administration Policies and Procedures Manual,” Marjan said.
The action against the IEBC senior staff comes just days after Garissa Township MP Aden Duale threatened to move an impeachment motion against the four dissenting officials.
