Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Wafula Chebukati is on the spot yet again after pulling the commission out of the crucial election preparedness committee.
In a letter to Interior PS Karanja Kibicho, Chebukati said IEBC will no longer take part in activities of the National Multi-Sectoral Consultative Forum (NMSCF) and its Technical Working Committee (TWC) on Election Preparedness chaired by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
According to the IEBC boss, the terms of the NMSCF and TWC go against the independence of the commission as it readies for the 2022 General Election.
Chebukati claims NMSCF is overstepping the mandate of the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) in discharging its mandate contrary to the law.
"The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), would wish to respectfully withdraw from further engagement in the activities of the said NMSCF and TWC, we must respectfully point out that a number of the TORs of the NMSCF and the TWC has the net effect of violating the Constitution by purporting to direct the Commission on how to discharge its mandate contrary to Article 88 of the Constitution," read the statement from IEBC.
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The IEBC Chairperson continued to claim that the involvement of some officials in the committee interferes the independence of the electoral body contrary to the constitution.
The withdrawal comes barely a week after Deputy President William Ruto’s UDA party protested the participation of CJ Martha Koome in the poll preparedness committee.
UDA Party officials protested that Koome's involvement in the election preparations would lead to a conflict of interest in the future in case a petition is filed at the courts.
Chebukati finds himself on the spot yet again after he, following a protest letter by UDA, said Cabinet Secretaries should not engage in politics, this contradicting his own position in 2017.
Chama Cha Kazi (CCK) Party Leader, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has accused him of refusing to be accountable even to political parties as far as the coming polls are concerned.
“I support Chebukati in refusing to report to government agencies but he has refused to be accountable even to political parties who are the stakeholders in elections. He is the biggest risk to a peaceful Kenya,” posted Kuria on social media on Tuesday.