Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebekati has responded to his deputy, Juliana Cherera, who raised doubts about the 100.01 per cent total accorded to four presidential aspirants.
Chebukati, in a statement dated Wednesday, August 17, claimed that Cherera and the other three commissioners, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang'aya and Irene Masit wanted to force him to declare a re-run.
"The four Commissioners demanded that the Chairperson moderates the results for purpose of forcing an election Re-run contrary to their oath of office. This is tantamount to subverting the Constitution and the sovereign will of the People of Kenya."
"The Chairperson refused to yield to this unconstitutional and unlawful demand and proceeded to declare the results of the Presidential Election as received from the polling stations," he explained.
Cherera had claimed that the extra 0.01 per cent amount to 142,000 unaccounted for votes, which Chebukati swiftly refuted.
"The alleged 0.01 per cent increase in the Presidential Election results raised by the four Commissioners namely Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang'aya and Irene Masit, is false and misleading," Chebukati stated.
"This is the most transparent election that the Commission has ever held. All results, Form 34As, were uploaded in real-time and are available in the public portal," Chebukati added.
He also watered down allegations by the four commissioners that he sidelined them during the tallying of the Presidential votes at the national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya.
The original Form 34As, he said, were delivered to the National Returning Officer for tallying and verification by the 290 Constituency Returning Officers, Diaspora Returning Officers, and agents of all presidential candidates participated in an elaborate verification process.
Form 34C which contains the final tallies of all the 46,229 Form 34A from polling stations was as well uploaded on the public portal for access, Chebukati argued.
In his defence, he moreover underlined that the Commission allowed media, observers, candidates and the general public to have access and tally the results announced at the polling stations.
"As the gazetted National Returning Officer and in the spirit of teamwork, the Chairperson involved all Commissioners including Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang'aya and Irene Masit in all activities of verification and tallying," Chebukati insisted.
He added the duties of all the commissioners were well defined in writing and allocated at the national tally centre. Chebukati claimed that the four commissioners had access to all results beforehand and interchangeably announced them for six days before the final day of announcing the presidential results at Bomas," he noted.
"If any of the parties elects to file a petition, it is within their constitutional right and the Commission shall have an opportunity to respond and demonstrate in further detail the circumstances under which the election was conducted, results verfied and outcome declared in accordance with the constitution and the law," he added.
