As the dust settles on the 2022 election cycle, it is visibly clear that it will take a few years before curtains draw on the events that transpired on August 15 at the Bomas national tallying centre.
President William Ruto, in his latest reflection on the drama and chaos, witnessed at Bomas, described the matter as “horrible’, and an attempt to sabotage the will of the people of Kenya.
During a joint interview with Kenya's television stations, on Wednesday, January 4, he attributed the scuffle that delayed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission- IEBC’s announcement of the results to the “state capture menace”.
He particularly mentioned the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), which he accused of conspiring to subvert the people's will in the election process.
“The events of August 15 were horrible; even the military, a sacred institution, was roped into the scheme to sabotage the will of the people of Kenya because of the state capture menace,” he stated.
When asked whether he would order an inquiry into the matter, President Ruto stated that the Kenya Kwanza administration chose to restore calm in the country after the highly-polarizing campaign period.
Procedural Process Within Ministry of Defence
According to Bob Mkangi, a constitutional lawyer- one of the options available to the Head of State was to deal with the matter internally through the structures in the Ministry of Defence.
"The President is the CIC of the KDF, chairs the National Security Council, appoints the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Defence who in turn chairs the Defence Council, and upon whose advice, he appoints senior KDF officers.
"These institutions and officials are sufficient for him to get to the bottom of things, systemically and within the corporation," he told Kenyans.co.ke.
Court Martials
In addition, the lawyer intimated that the court martial could play in case the state opts for individual responsibility of persons in the KDF accused of involvement in errant acts.
"Where individual responsibility is preferred, the Act provides offences and prescribes disciplinary and other ways, including court-martials, of dealing with suspected errant officers," Mkangi added.
Notably, the state took action against dozens of soldiers involved in the abortive coup of 1982 when a section of the Kenya Airforce wing attempted to overthrow the government.
Soldiers were prosecuted in the martial and jailed in connection with the historic event.
Commission of Inquiry
Further, the lawyer detailed that the President would use a commission of inquiry to unearth the intrigues of the August 15 controversial events.
During his campaigns, the Head of State promised to establish a commission of inquiry that would institute quasi-judicial investigations into the allegations of state capture.
However, Mkangi went on to state that the commission would only be relevant if the matter is justified to be of public interest or a case where other avenues are insufficient.
"In as much as the President has powers to issue a commission under the Commission of Inquiry Act, its relevance comes where public interest demands it, and other avenues seem insufficient for optimally dealing with the issue.
As of now, if anything, the Constitution and Defence Forces Act should suffice to handle the issue," he intimated.
He also warned that "expanding the role of the proposed commission of inquiry into state capture to look into a specific occurrence could compromise its mandate and output.
According to him, it would only be justifiable if the commission focused on the entire KDF institution instead of investigating a specific incident.
