IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati and former commissioner Roselyn Akombe. [Photo/ Plive]
When former IEBC Commissioner Roselyn Akombe resigned, she said being unable to convince the majority of fellow commissioners to follow her ideas was the main reason she decided to betray her country. She said every time the seven commissioners voted to make a decision on internal matters, her suggestion we rejected. Instead of persuading her colleagues on why she was right, she decided to flee the country to her safe haven in New York. Millions of Kenyans feel betrayed by her move. They feel like she has set Kenya on fire and left permanently to the United States, where she is also a citizen. She was supposed to be in Dubai inspecting the progress of printing ballot papers when she fled with even warning her colleagues. Political analysts now agree that Dr Akombe was most likely part of the “Maraga Coup”, which Mutahi Ngunyi says started when Chief Justice David Maraga’s Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s huge victory. The other person in the Supreme Court accused of being part of the coup is registrar Esther Nyaigaki, who has been on the spot for allegedly planting fake forms to mislead judges. Majority of Kenyans now agree that Akombe, being a citizen of the US, should never have been given the job. She does not seem to care about the welfare of the country, now that her whole family is abroad with her. She has even gone to the extent of speaking ill of her colleagues. Soon after her dramatic departure from the electoral commission, chairman Wafula Chebukati called a press conference to talk ill of IEBC commissioners and cast doubt on the fairness of the October 26 presidential election. Both Chebukati and Akombe seemed to be reading from one script, which is very similar to what NASA has been preaching from. The two, despite falling in the minority side of the commission, wanted to have their way, as if they were always right in everything they wanted or stood for The reason why we are headed for a repeat poll is because the Supreme Court judges voted 4-2 in favour of nullifying the election. Democracy demands that the majority have their way as the minority have their say. The constitution requires that the commission hold the repeat election within 60 days. The commission has said that everything is ready for the nationwide exercise. If a few NASA supporters disrupt other Kenyans from casting their votes, they will be breaking election laws, and therefore should be prosecuted.