Why Chebukati should for once be honest to himself and his country

From the statement made by electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati on October 18, there was an acknowledgement of Raila Odinga's withdrawal from the October 26 repeat presidential race. The chairman suggested that we must go beyond thinking of Raila as a person and consider the more than six million Kenyans who felt disenfranchised by his withdrawal. On the same note, he asked a very technical question: "Do we just go on as if his withdrawal means nothing?" As a senior lawyer and citizen of this country, the chairman was already seeing the possible implications of ignoring Raila's withdrawal.

However, did the chairman exhaust all the legal avenues at his disposal and find that proceeding with the planned election was the only option left for him as the chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC)? In the same statement, the chairman gave relevant statistical examples showing severe repercussions a country is likely to face in the event such a withdrawal is ignored. As a country, did we ignore his advice? Who was he specifically addressing? I challenge my senior brother Mr Chebukati to be honest with himself and his country.