National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale has called on the Muslim community to oppose the push to evict IEBC commissioners.
Duale said Raila Odinga was unfairly targeting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan.
“When Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero was accused of bribing Justice Philip Tonui, Raila said the law should be followed when dealing with the matter. Why is it different when it comes to the IEBC? The way he defended Kidero with vigour is the same way we leaders from the Muslim community will defend one of our own Hassan,” said Aden Duale as quoted by The Star.
Duale’s sentiments were supported by four other lawmakers. Duale’s backers are Tana River Women Representative Halima Ware, Bura MP Ali Wario, Saku MP Rasso Dido and Ijara’s Ibrahim Abass. The lawmakers, according to the paper, vowed to do all they could to ensure the IEBC commissioners stay in office.
Hassan and four other commissioners (Mohmaed Alawi, Kule Godana, Yusuf Nzibo and Abdullahi Sharawe) are Muslims.
IEBC has a total of nine commissioners.
The current IEBC commission were sworn in on Monday, November 14, 2011. They were appointment by former president Mwai Kibaki Kibaki, in consultation with Raila Odinga who was the prime minister then.
Raila now claims that commissioners would not be free and fair in the 2017 general election. He once stated that President Uhuru Kenyatta had promised the IEBC commissioners jobs if they favour him in the polls.
On Monday, May 23, Raila led the fourth anti-IEBC demonstration in Nairobi. He and his allies have vowed to continue with the weekly protests until the commissioners are out of office. At least three people died during similar anti-IEBC demonstrations across the country.
One protester was allegedly shot dead in Siaya County while another died undergoing treatment at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu.
Others got serious injuries in Migori and Homa Bay during the protests. The opposition leaders have indicated that they would another round of protests during Madaraka Day.