As the 2022 General Election nears, a new political battle pitying Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga has emerged following IEBCs withdrawal from the 2022 elections team.
In a detailed letter dated Monday, November 29, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati announced that the commission had pulled out of the Election Preparedness committee, a move that appears to have widened the already existing rift between the two camps.
The decision by the Chebukati-led commission came shortly after UDA, a party heavily linked with William Ruto complained about Chief Justice Martha Koome’s active involvement in the preparations of the 2022 elections.
But while allies of the deputy president welcomed Chebukati’s move to pull out of the team, their ODM counterparts have accused IEBC of bowing to UDA demands.
LSK president Nelson Havi who recently joined UDA led the quota in praising Chebukati and at the same time called out CJ Martha Koome for chairing an unconstitutional committee.
“Shame and embarrassment is when you insist on seating on a non-existent chair. You fall down flat on your butt,
“How will JC Martha Koome chair the unconstitutional Consultative Forum on Election? Wafula Chebukati, you have spared yourself shame and embarrassment,” Havi said.
However, the ODM camp led by party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, and his Embakasi East counterpart Babu Owino claims that the move by Chebukati to pull out of the 2022 elections team could sabotage free and fair elections.
“If you are plotting to conduct a shame (election) as you did in 2017, we are watching you. You know the real colors of ODM. Please don’t provoke us,” Junet said,
“Elections are not conducted on behalf of, for, IEBC but for all Kenyans. If teams are put in place to ensure a successful electoral process, it is not right to see them work in isolation,” Sifuna said.
