Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati was contemplating to resign days to October 2017 presidential repeat polls, reports The Sunday Nation.
With the commission plunged into internal crisis following resignation of Roselyn Akombe, Chebukati was struggling to stamp his authority in a hugely divided commission.
Ms Akombe publicly confirmed that Chebukati was under siege, forcing the chairman to admit that running credible elections which had seen opposition leader Raila Odinga pulling out was a tough task.
But the fact that his family was in Kenya, made Mr Chebukati to drop the idea of resigning for the sake of their safety. Sources say that the family asked him to reconsider his position.
“Unlike Akombe, I have all my family members here,” he told a confidant. “What would become of them if I left the country in a similar fashion?”
The IEBC chairman was by law, the Returning Officer for presidential polls thus his exit would have plunged the country into a state of anarchy.
There were also claims that the Commissioners were under pressure to resign with some unknown forces giving them lucrative offers.
However, few days to the polls, Chebukati yielded to pressure and decided to hold elections which saw President Uhuru Kenyatta comfortably win.
“There may be differences of opinion, but the commission is united and committed to deliver a credible, free and fair election. Our mandate is on elections and we are ready in all areas.
"We have a contract with the Kenyan people; the chairman is not planning to resign; the commissioners are not planning to resign; that is fake news,” Mr Chebukati said.
Mr Chebukati has lost three more commissioners following internal differences. He is currently fighting for his position ahead of 2022 presidential polls.