Outgoing Gatundu South member of parliament, Moses Kuria, now claims that the four dissenting Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners are allegedly being used to cover up President Uhuru Kenyatta’s failure to hand Raila Odinga the presidency.
Kuria downplayed the allegations levelled against Chairperson Wafula Chebukati who was accused of being a dictator and that he tallied, verified and announced the presidential elections alone.
Vice chairperson Julia Cherera and commissioners Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Julius Nyang'aya opposed Chebukati's declaration of William Ruto as president-elect.
“Truth of the matter is that the four Commissioners represent the only tangible contribution and value-add by Uhuru Kenyatta to the Raila Odinga Campaign. They are there to cover up the fact that Uhuru failed Baba (Raila) terribly,” Kuria alleged.
The four commissioners, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga have not responded yet to Kuria's claims.
Nonetheless, the MP also referred to an argument made at the Supreme Court on Thursday, September 1, questioning whether the commissioners have a crucial role in providing oversight in the presidential election tallying and verification process.
In the statement, he argued that if the commissioners have an oversight role over Chebukati of the presidential election, they also ought to have overseen all elections countrywide.
“If the commissioners have an oversight role over the Returning Officer of the presidential election, how come they didn't exercise the same oversight role over the 290 Constituency Returning Officers and 47 County Returning Officers?” He asked.
The debate about the role of commissioners in the presidential election played out in court with the judges seeking answers on why Chebukati assigned them different roles.
The four commissioners, through their counsels, submitted that they were locked out of their constitutional mandate to oversee the election process and instead given other roles.
Justice Njoki Ndung'u questioned why Chebukati was being painted as supreme commissioner above the others and what checks the Constitution places on his duties.
"From the narrative, we are hearing in court, there seems to be an all-powerful chair. What would happen if he was to announce the wrong results, mentally incapacitated, sick or has passed away?" she posed.
On his part, IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati maintained that the role of conducting a presidential election is solely a preserve of the chair who is the returning officer for the presidential election.
However, Chief Justice Martha Koome wondered why Chebukati did not inform the nation that he was reading results which were opposed by his colleagues and Justice Isaac Lenaola wondered why he was in rush to make a declaration with one day remaining.
Addressing the issues raised, Ruto's lawyer, Kithure Kindiki explained that the chaos that erupted prior to the announcement by Chebukati necessitated the rush.
Lawyer George Murugu who represents IEBC added that Article 138 3 (c) gives the Commission a joint role in announcing the results thus Chebukati did not act as a lone ranger and neither did he wield excess power.
The seven judges will retreat to prepare the final judgement on Friday, September 2 and deliver the verdict on Monday, September 5.
