Azimio leader Raila Odinga's spokesperson, Prof. Makau Mutua, has slammed the media over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ugly split.
In a statement, on Sunday, August 21, Mutua claimed that the media was spreading false and lazy propaganda against the IEBC's for referring to the four commissioners who disowned the presidential election results as dissenters.
“Stop calling the courageous and patriotic four IEBC commissioners “dissenters. “By definition, a majority cannot dissent. It's only the IEBC chairman -3 commissioners who are the dissenters.
Only minorities can dissent. The media should stop the false and lazy propaganda,” Prof Mutua stated.
IEBC vice chair Juliana Cherera together with her other colleagues including Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang'aya, and Irene Masit disowned the final IEBC presidential election results claiming that the last phase of verification process was opaque.
"We are not at the Bomas of Kenya because we cannot take ownership of the results that are going to be announced because of the opaque nature in which these results have been handled," Cherera stated.
During the announcement of the presidential election results on August 15, in an event that was marred with chaos, IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati declared William Ruto as the President-elect.
Makau's statement came just hours before the Azimio coalition files a presidential election petition at the Supreme Court in a bid to convince the apex court to nullify Ruto’s win.
He had previously asked the state not to recognize Ruto as the President-elect until all constitutional and legal processes are pursued and exhaustively concluded.
Azimio is banking on the four commissioners who disowned the results to come up with a water-tight case against the IEBC based on how the apex court ruled in previous election petitions.
Raila had previously stated that the law does not vest in the chairperson, the powers of a dictator to rule the commission unilaterally, adding that the IEBC is a structured and democratic institution in which decisions must be taken either by consensus or by a vote of the majority.
Further, the Court of Appeal on the historic Maina Kiai case had ruled that unless a unanimous decision is reached, a decision on any matter before the commission shall be the majority of the members present and voting.
The fallout within the IEBC will have legal implications on how the Supreme Court will determine the petition. The Justice Martha Koome-led bench will have 14 days after the day of filing, to hear and deliver a verdict that could have far-reaching implications.
The 7-judge bench could uphold Ruto's win by siding with Chebukati, order recount of presidential votes or send Kenyans back to the ballot in a fresh election within 60 days.
