Deputy President William Ruto's camp has reawakened election malpractice claims after remarks made by ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru.
In a statement on Thursday, May 5, Ruto's Campaign Secretariat expressed concern over the relationship between Mucheru and Azimio la Umoja Presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga.
The DP's team asked the IEBC to guarantee fair polls after Mucheru pledged support for Raila's presidential bid adding that the ICT sector was key in elections.
"Of particular concern is the emergence of an outrageous video clip of ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru pledging his allegiance, committing public resources and institutions and declaring state support for the Azimio la Umoja and its project," the statement read.
The team claimed that senior government officials were purported to assume roles and positions intended to influence the conduct and the outcome of the August 2022 election, in particular ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru.
"Of concern to us is the critical role the Ministry of ICT plays in supervising and overseeing the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK).
"CAK provides the technological framework for IEBC to conduct digital registration, digital tallying and relaying of results electronically, which affects the verifiability, transparency, accountability and credibility of elections as per the Constitution," the statement read in part.
The CS has been accused of making questionable statements yet he is in charge of one of the most crucial Ministries in the country ahead of the polls in August.
The secretariat, which is chaired by Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok, faulted the ICT CS for openly declaring support for Raila yet he was in charge of the Ministry which will play a critical role in the August polls.
"We wish to point out that although it is not isolated, Mucheru's brazen statement highlights an unfortunate trend by cabinet secretaries to pursue impunity, circumvent the rule of law, corrupt public institutions, facilitate the commission of criminal offences and subvert our democracy," the statement read.
Nanok asked the IEBC to take decisive action against CS Mucheru as well as his Interior counterpart Fred Matiangi, Eugene Wamalwa (Defence), Peter Munya (Agriculture) and Mutahi Kagwe (Health) for continuously breaching Section 15 of the Election Offences Act 2016.
WSR Presidential team further noted that a presidential candidate should not be in a position to assign, direct, supervise and receive reports on election manipulation from the Cabinet Secretaries since they are directly involved in elections.
