Ruto Should Start By Probing 2007 Elections- Babu Owino

Embakasi East Member of Parliament (MP) Babu Owino has urged President William Ruto to task a yet-to-be-formed Commission of Inquiry into the August 9, 2022, general elections to stretch its mandate to the controversial 2007 general elections.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, January 18, the lawmaker called upon the commission to revisit the events surrounding the 2007 polls which led to post-election violence across the country, during which more than 1,100 people were killed.

He believed that by starting from the controversial polls that the late former President Mwai Kibaki won against former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, his opponent at the time, the commission would be granting the much-needed justice to Kenyans.

The late former President Mwai Kibaki takes oath of office at State House in Nairobi on December 30, 2007, after being declared the winner of the disputed presidential election. /DAILY NATION

"A commission of inquiry should be formed. We also agree that a commission of inquiry should be informed but this commission should start with the 2007 elections where over 10,000 Kenyans were killed.

"So from that period, let us form the commission of inquiry and jail those people who were involved in the 2007 skirmishes and those people who were funding. When we start from there, we will be doing justice to Kenyans," he stated.

Owino claimed that during the same year and the same violence, there was a section of Kenyans burnt in churches by culprits he claimed that he knows who they are, and by the commission starting from that period, the country would be cleaned once and for all.

He noted that the commission should then move to the 2017 elections, whose initial results were nullified by the Supreme Court, meaning Kenyans had to vote again.

On that matter, Owino urged the commission to investigate former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Wafula Chebukati, even though he was found to be culpable of election malpractice by the Supreme Court at that time. He also urged the commission to investigate the killing of former IEBC ICT manager Chris Msando.

"After finishing 2007, we come to 2017. In 2017, those who were involved in election fraud and remember, the Supreme Court of Kenya found Chebukati culpable of election malpractice and this is a fact. So we also jail Chebukati because already the Supreme Court found him culpable of rigging elections in 2017.

"After jailing Chebukati, then we move very fast to Msando's case. The same commission should investigate what happened to Msando and who killed him and those people who were involved in Msando's death should all be jailed," he went on, adding that other cases such as Baby Pendo's death should also be considered by the commission.

The lawmaker faulted Chebukati for being allowed to oversee the 2022 general elections despite being found culpable in the 2017 polls by the Supreme Court as well as President William Ruto for expressing concern about his well-being.

"Why is Mr President concerned about Chebukati who is a healthy Kenyan, even when you look closely, he goes for spas and massages, even his bald head is very healthy. Why is the president concerned with someone who is very healthy, on top of that somebody who is being paid Ksh500 million after leaving office and he's not concerned with those people who were killed in 2007 and 2017?" he posed.

On Ruto's public statement of an alleged murder plot on Chebukati, Owino disclosed that the Head of State knows the identity of the perpetrators behind the heinous plot prior to the 2022 elections through intelligence reports he receives on a daily basis.

"Because this is a very serious allegation from the President himself and he has the right intelligence that is being briefed on a daily basis, so he knows those who were planning this. Can the President name and shame these people...let him come out and say 'so and so wanted to abduct Chebukati'," he stated.