Update 11:53 am: IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati announced that the electoral commission would be escalating its case against Murang'a Women Representative Sabina Chege into a full hearing.
The electoral commission's Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee has summoned Chege to explain utterances she had made during a rally in Vihiga last week.
The legislator's legal team asked the IEBC to drop the matter arguing that the comments were taken out of context. The committee, after only 30 minutes of deliberations, found that the matter should be taken to a full hearing.
The hearing will begin Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 9:00 am.
Speaking to the media after the summon, Senator James Orengo stated that the IEBC ignored grounds provided as to why the matter should not proceed before the committee.
"We raised five grounds as to why this matter should not proceed before the committee but they focused on 1 ground to make the decision they have jurisdiction. Utterances made by Sabina Chege don’t amount to the accusations made by the electoral commission," Orengo stated.
Murang'a County Women Representative Sabina Chege has appeared before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Electoral Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee.
She was to answer to charges over utterances made in a public rally in Isibuye in Vihiga County on 10th February 2022.
The Member of Parliament was accompanied by Senator and Senior Counsel James Orengo, lawyer and Rarieda Constituency lawmaker Otiende Amollo and Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.
IEBC stated that Sabina Chege's claims cast aspersions on the 2017 general election that the electoral system is penetrable and wanted the lawmaker to be subjected to the electoral code of conduct.
Senator Orengo told the IEBC committee led by Chairperson Wafula Chebukati that their statement was not clear enough and the electoral commission had not informed them of any violations Chege had made.
"We have a problem with this statement of the breach. From the charge, it is a redacted version of what Sabina Chege said. There is no clear assertion. You are not telling us clearly what she is accused of saying," the Siaya Senator stated.
His statements were backed by MP Amollo who demanded a full text of what the Muranga Women Rep had stated during the campaign rally, noting that the "absence of that becomes difficult to respond".
Amollo further demanded full disclosure of who the complainant is and any report made that led to the subsequent summon by the IEBC.
SC Orengo also asked the IEBC to dismiss the summons and urged Chebukati and his team to withdraw from presiding over the matter. He opined that the IEBC would be on trial if the commission decides to deal with the matter at hand.
The statement agitated Chairman Chebukati who clarified Senator Orengo's statement on the electoral commission being on trial if they go ahead with the summons.
The IEBC Electoral Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee heard Chege's lawyers and make a ruling at 11:45am.
IEBC on Friday, February 11, it was revealed that the legislator was required to appear before the commission's Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee on Tuesday, February 15.
The statement by the electoral body comes barely days after Chege made remarks regarding the victory of the Jubilee party during the 2017 General Election.
