Duale: Why Cherera, 3 IEBC Commissioners Should Be Fired

Garissa Township Member of Parliament, Aden Duale has promised that the four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners who clashed with Chairperson Wafula Chebukati will not go scot-free.

In a statement broken down to 11 points on Wednesday, September 7, Duale poked holes at the recent statement by the four commissioners led by Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera which saw them accept the Supreme Court verdict that validated William Ruto's win in the August 9 general elections.

In the same capacity, they supported Chebukati's statement that revealed that the elections were free and fair, hours after the apex court vindicated the commission.

Duale, while terming the statement as "an abuse to the Kenyan People" added that the actions of the four IEBC commissioners, Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Cherera, had almost thrown the country to chaos.

"What a change of tune! These are the same Commissioners who almost took this country into a crisis as they purported to make false claims not only against the IEBC Chair but of an election that they themselves oversaw to the end but on realising their "masters" had failed they purported to create confusion at the 11th hour. These are the same Commissioners who took Kenyans for a ride as they appeared in media conferences with the 0.01% embrassing circus in what they called "mathematical absurdity".

"These are the same Commissioners who looked straight to the cameras without blinking and made false statements that the elections were opaque and a one man show just to discredit the electoral process and overturn the clear win of our President-Elect., H.E William Samoei Ruto," Duale noted in part.

According to the lawmaker, the commissioners went ahead and filed pleadings and tonnes of paragraphs in fabricated affidavits alleging and lying about how "the results were unverified and never approved" and hence they had hoped that the Supreme Court would nullify the elections.

"These are the same Commissioners who walked out of Bomas after being persuaded by their "masters" to disregard the sovereign will of the people!

"What has suddenly changed for the "runaway" Commissioners?.Just because all their evil plans failed now they want us to move on as if nothing ever happened?" he posed.

He termed their actions, which he likened to a movie, as a pure blatant gross violation of the Constitution and the law for attempting to subvert the will of the people through fabrications.

"Consequently, the four commissioners should be held accountable both individually and collectively! They cannot turn on and off like a switch and expect us to just forget everything. They must face the music," he promised.

Duale referred to Article 251 of the Constitution which provides for the removal of commissioners on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution and the law as well as gross misconduct.

On the fallout between him and Cherera as well as the three breakaway commissioners, Chebukati had noted that they were free to do as they wish moving forward and that they were still part of the commission.

"As a commission, we followed the law, and it's up to them and their conscience on what they wanted to do going forward. We have not chased away anyone," Chebukati stated. 

The four had jointly revealed that they accepted the decision by the seven-judge bench and that they respected their unanimous decision.