IEBC split casts shadow on commissioner's tenure

IEBC commissioners led by chairman Wafula Chebukati during a press briefing at the National Tallying Centre, Bomas of Kenya on Aug 13, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard Whichever way the Supreme Court rules on the presidential election petition, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is staring at a grim future. The fight pitting three commissioners (chairperson Wafula Chebukati, Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu) against four (vice-chairperson Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang'aya) could just be the blow that takes the commission down. The two factions have accused each other of committing electoral malpractices in the recently concluded General Election, casting doubt on the credibility of the process. On the one side, the Chebukati-led group alleges that the Cherera-led side connived with public officers to "subvert the will of the people". On the other, Cherera&Co accuse the IEBC chair of running a one-man show in the months leading to the election and eventually presiding over a "sham" process. And they have filed two conflicting responses to the nine petitions as the IEBC, setting up a circus once the hearings begin. Both sides swear to be telling the truth of what transpired in the commission. While that remains the Supreme Court's role to judge, the commissioners' remarks have exposed irreparable divisions within the polls agency. Such divisions do more than just create an air of awkwardness among the commissioners, expected to work together until January next year, when Chebukati and the other two commissioners in his corner retire upon the end of their six-year terms. The cracks within the IEBC and the damning blame game the commissioners have engaged in threatens to erode the public trust. Coming into the 2022 General Election, Chebukati was keen to avoid a repeat of the sham that was the 2017 presidential election, nullified by the former Chief Justice David Maraga-led Supreme Court on grounds of "massive illegalities and irregularities." That nullification would bring to the fore divisions within the then commission, resulting in the resignation of four IEBC commissioners - Consolata Nkatha, Roselyne Akombe, Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat. Ms Akombe was the first to exit the commission, fleeing the country while on a mission to inspect ballot printing in Dubai after the Supreme Court ordered a fresh election presidential election. The other three would quit in April 2018, saying the Chebukati-led commission had become "dysfunctional. The IEBC chairperson finds himself confronting the ghosts of 2017 elections. He is in charge of a divided commission and faces blame for the implosion. This election would have been redemption for Chebukati had it not been contested. In the event that the Supreme Court upholds Ruto's win, he will earn some redemption but the damage has already been done in as much as one side of the political divide views him. In his affidavit, Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga says that the IEBC boss is tainted and cannot be trusted to conduct any other election. Going by history, that will be the perception held by Raila's supporters. The Supreme Court verdict will do little to change that as it failed to inspire trust among the ODM leader's supporters in the 2013 Isaack Hassan-led IEBC when the former Chief Justice Willie Mutunga-led Supreme Court upheld President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory. A positive judgement for the IEBC could, therefore, only do as much as ensure that Chebukati completes his term in office, emboldening him to weather calls for his resignation. The four dissenting commissioners could suffer the brunt of pressure to resign from Ruto's Kenya Kwanza Alliance, seeing as they have been accused of getting in the way of his victory. President-elect Ruto enjoys majority support in Parliament, which he may use to initiate their removal from office. If the Supreme Court nullifies the Kenya Kwanza leader's win, then the commission could suffer a total collapse, occasioned by a push and pull from opposing sides of the political divide. While Raila has stated his resistance in having Chebukati conduct another election, it is unclear that Ruto would want the Cherera-faction to participate in a fresh election. "It is very difficult to see a situation that the IEBC as currently constituted can survive," governance analyst Tom Mboya told The Standard, adding, "We haven't seen much in terms of continuity from one commission to the next. Many commissions are hounded out of office after the election. But it is not a habit that we should encourage since we need to retain the institutional memory and the experiences earned by the commissions."

IEBC split casts shadow on commissioner's tenure

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