IEBC Commissioners Appear Together For The First Time Since Things Became ‘Opaque’

The five members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), along with their chair and vice chair, have all appeared collectively for the first time since the results of the presidential election on August 9 were announced last week.

A briefing was held on Monday in the Bomas of Kenya by IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati, his vice Juliana Cherera, and Commissioners Justus Nyang’aya, Irene Masit, Abdi Guliye, Boya Molu, and Francis Wanderi.

In response to allegations of harassment of IEBC officials, the electoral body had indefinitely postponed elections in the areas where they were meeting with local leaders.

The seven were presumably last seen together on Monday, August 15, in the early afternoon before Mr. Chebukati announced the results of the presidential election at around 6 o’clock.

Just before their boss made the big announcement, Ms. Cherera led Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit, and Justus Nyang’aya in rejecting the election results that saw William Ruto declared the winner.

In a similar speech delivered at the Serena Hotel, Cherera said that the verification of election results, the final step in the process, was not transparent. She described it as “opaque.”

“As you can see, the four of us are here and not at Bomas where the result is going to be announced because of the opaque nature of how this phase has been handled,” she told journalists.
“We therefore cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced.”

She continued by saying that the team had divided after meeting several hours prior to the announcement before the four left. The seven IEBC executives have not been spotted together in public since that time.

The stakeholders unanimously decided at the meeting on Monday to hold the elections for the Pokot South, Kacheliba, Kitui Rural, and Rongai MP seats as well as the Kakamega Mombasa counties (gubernatorial) on August 29.

The Nyaki West and Kwa Njenga wards’ MCA seats will also be up for election during this activity.