Deputy President William Ruto’s United Development Alliance (UDA) party has written a protest letter to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati demanding the resignation of ICT CS Joe Mucheru.

UDA wants Mucheru to resign on allegations of being involved in political campaigns.

Through its Secretary-General Veronica Maina, UDA claimed the continued stay in office of Mucheru compromises the independence of the Communications Authority (CA), especially during this electioneering period.

“Of concern to us is the critical role the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology plays in supervising and overseeing the Communication Authority of Kenya,” UDA wrote.

UDA also claimed Mucheru could influence the outcome of the August general election through his office. 

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The party maintained Mucheru should resign and freely exercise his rights to support any candidate of his choosing and let someone else replace him in office.

“Certainly, nothing stops the Cabinet Secretary for ICT from resigning in furtherance of his political rights to support a candidate of his choice and allow other able Kenyans to perform his responsibilities as Cabinet Secretary in accordance with the requirements of the law,” the letter read in part.

This comes after 3 Nairobi City residents had petitioned the National Assembly to impeach ICT CS Joe Mucheru allegedly over violation of the Constitutions and Elections Act by involving himself in politics.

Mucheru has recently come under fire over a statement he made during an event attended by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga when he said they were working to ensure the country has a free and fair election.

“We are working closely with Baba to ensure that this is the case and we have been looking and seeing the information we are on the right track…Baba, we are together and we are following you, you have given us the assignment, we are doing all that, we are not sleeping,” Mucheru said.

However, Mucheru rubbished the allegations, saying Ruto’s allies were afraid of losing the election and they did not work with the IEBC.