Kioni: Plot To Bomb Bomas During Announcement Of Presidential Results

Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni has claimed that there were plans to stop the announcement of the August 9 presidential elections results by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, including the bombing of Bomas of Kenya.

Speaking in an NTV expose dubbed How Raila Lost aired on Monday, December 12, Kioni claimed that some unknown individuals had believed that Chebukati should be arrested for his role in the elections whereby Azimio la Umoja coalition leader Raila Odinga lost for the fifth consecutive time.

He even detailed pressure to bomb the premises which served as the National Tallying Centre, on Monday, August 15 when the results were to be announced. 

Kioni however expressed fear that such stunts would have disrupted the normal way of life in the country, giving examples of Tunisia and Algeria which descended into chaos in similar circumstances.

"People were saying 'why didn't you allow Chebukati to announce these things at Bomas? Why didn't you bomb it? Why didn't you arrest him?' and you can do all those things but who tells you after that you have a country?" he posed.

On why the coalition lost the elections to Kenya Kwanza, led by President William Ruto, Kioni noted that Azimio had failed to pay attention to the civil servants who were capable of moving between governments.

"There was a section of Azimio that over-relied on the civil servants and they failed to understand that the civil servants are transient in nature. They will move from this government to the next; theirs is to be careful, they have really no loyalty to a government whose term has come to an end," he added.

Embakasi East MP Paul Ongili better known as Babu Owino on his part revealed that he reached out to former Interior Principal Secretary (PS) Karanja Kibicho so that Chebukati could be arrested for allegedly altering the outcome of the elections, adding that this was a plot to get his junior, Juliana Cherera, to announce Raila as the winner.

"There's a day I called Kibicho and I told him the way things are moving, we need to act very fast, so he asked me what to do. I told him that we need to arrest Chebukati immediately for bungling elections.

"Do you know what he told me? He told me to stop triggering protests...I'm telling you the truth, this man was supposed to be ours, but what is happening? I told him that it is you to arrest Chebukati for bungling elections then Cherera to announce Baba as the winner or we go for a rerun," he said.

Babu further revealed that since the election loss, there were days he couldn't sleep well and was posing several questions on how the polls could have gone wrong for Azimio, noting that he would have been in the Cabinet if Raila won the elections.

"Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and ask myself what really happened. I knew I would not be sitting in this office had Raila won. I would be serving Kenyans as a Cabinet Secretary for education or interior. But look at me now," he added.

According to him, the nullification of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) by all three of Kenya's top courts, including the Supreme Court in March, set the tone for Azimio's defeat.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta had wanted to use it for constitutional reforms but the document failed owing to its legal loopholes.

The documentary gave a blow-by-blow account of close allies on why they feel the ODM leader failed to win the top seat in his fifth attempt.

Former Raila Odinga's chief agent for the August 9, 2022, general elections, Sabaitao Ole Kanchory revealed the roles of three individuals; Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohammed, Azimio Secretariat Spokesperson Makau Mutua and former Information, Communication and Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru in Raila's fifth consecutive election loss.

Saitabao ole Kanchory speaking during a past forum. /FILE