Raila Demands Return Of Cherera 4 At IEBC

Azimio leader Raila Odinga has demanded that President William Ruto reinstate the four commissioners who had been terminated from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

In an address he delivered on Tuesday, March 21, Raila reiterated his calls towards the Head of State against reforming the IEBC by allegedly picking commissioners of his choosing.

The former Prime Minister demanded that the quartet; Vice-chairperson Juliana Cherera, and commissioners Justus Nyang'aya, Francis Wanderi and Irene Masit be reinstated.

"Brutal Ruto must stop reconstituting the IEBC unilaterally and packing it with his puppets without the involvement of other stakeholders. We demand that the 4 commissioners who were forced to resign must be reinstated," he addressed.

He further maintained that the IEBC must open the servers and allow an independent international audit that will without doubt prove to Kenyans that President Ruto did not win the last elections.

Raila further accused Ruto of purging the country's Public Service by firing civil servants who had served in the previous regime and allegedly replacing them with individuals drawn from his community.

"Brutal Ruto must stop the ethnicization and commercialization of the Public Service. We will fight for as long as it takes to save this country from being ruled by cartels, elites and ethnic warlords

"Ruto must stop the victimization and sacking of civil servants whose only crime is either that they served in the previous government or that they come from particular communities," he appealed.

Speaking at Mombasa during Coast Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) delegates meeting on March 12, 2023, Raila accused the Head of State of making errors in appointing the seven-member selection panel tasked with replacing the four commissioners at IEBC as well as ex-chairman Wafula Chebukati, commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye.

“There will be no need to have elections in 2027 when the President wants to choose commissioners of his preference. It is like having in a football match the referee being chosen by one team,” he argued.

However, speaking during an Interdenominational Thanksgiving service at Kirubia Stadium, Chuka, Tharaka Nithi County, President Ruto affirmed that he was not going to bend the rule of law and the Constitution to satisfy them.

“IEBC selection panel was constituted according to the Constitution. Law Society of Kenya, Political Parties, Religious Groups and Public Service all forwarded names to be included in the selection panel.

“What I did was to Gazette the names that were brought to my desk as dictated by the law, I do not have any preferred candidates in the selection panel because the Constitution does not give the President room to choose anyone,” he answered Raila.

Cherera, Nyang'aya and Wanderi all resigned from the IEBC while were being investigated over their conduct after they disputed the presidential election results declared by Chebukati on August 15, 2022, citing “opaqueness” in the manner the results were counted and determined.

After the Supreme Court later upheld the elections, petitions were filed challenging their suitability to hold office. Despite the probe targeting all the four commissioners, termed the Cherera 4, Masit's three colleagues all resigned before the hearings began, leaving her to face the tribunal alone.