Wafula Chebukati, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman, is a man under siege.
Yesterday, Chebukati, commissioners Boya Molu and Prof Abdi Yakub Guliye in a press statement said that their security had been withdrawn by the state.
They have written a letter to the Inspector General of Police seeking explanations on the circumstances that led to the withdrawal of their security.
“The Commission has this morning learned that the security (including armed drivers) of the Chairman and Commissioners Prof. Ayub Guliye and Boya Mulu have been withdrawn. Consequently, the commission has written to the Inspector General of police for an understanding of the circumstances leading to this action,” said Andrew Limo, the IEBC communications manager.
The trio last week voted to send CEO Ezra Chiloba on a three-month compulsory leave over procurement irregularities.Chiloba lost a bid to temporarily lift his suspension from the commission on Friday after Judge Stephen Radido declined to grant the CEO’s request, saying he needed to hear all parties and facts of the case first.
IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba. [Photo/trendingkenya.com]
Vice-chair Consolata Nkatha Maina, commissioners Dr. Paul Kurgat and Margaret Mwachanya have since resigned, citing "deteriorating confidence in Chebukati.
"A meeting was organized by the IEBC chairman at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha on April 13 for the three commissioners to air their grievances on their resignation, which was triggered by Chebukati - Chiloba feud.
"There was raw anger. People were angry, and they all wanted answers. Every one of us said what we felt in a raw chat, not minuted, but very critical all the same. We all spoke, each saying what they felt,” a commissioner said after the tense meeting, as reported by the Daily Nation.
That was to be the last meeting the commissioners had together as vice chair Nkatha’s team resigned three days later on Monday.
AKOMBE'S RESIGNATION
In her resignation 10 days to the October 26 repeat presidential election, Dr. Roselyn Akombe said Chebukati was under siege, and the credibility of the polls was in question.
"The commission in its current state can surely not guarantee a credible election on October 26. I do not want to be party to such a mockery of electoral integrity," she said on October 16, 2017.
Former IEBC commissioner Dr. Akombe. [Photo/howtodyis.com]
Akombe fled the country, saying her life was in danger. At that time, political temperatures in the country were high, with the opposition led by Raila Odinga boycotting the fresh poll, saying he did not trust the IEBC to deliver credible elections.
Odinga had given the polls body a list of irreducible minimums as conditions of his participation in the election.
He accused the commission of colluding with the Jubilee Party to rig the election in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta, his main opponent then. IEBC and Jubilee denied the claims.
"CHEBUKATI MUST RESIGN"
Siaya Senator James Orengo on Monday said Chebukati must resign.
In a statement, the opposition leader said Chebukati must lead the remaining commissioners in exiting the commission on grounds that the polls body has become a felonious enterprise.Orengo said IEBC was first "captured" by the state to allegedly rig the presidential elections last year.
"There are no longer good or bad commissioners in IEBC. The organisation is cursed," said the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) senator.