IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati giving an update on presidential repeat
election results at the National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya on
October 28, 2017. PHOTO DENNIS ONSONGO.
During a delayed update at the Bomas of
Kenya on Thursday night, electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati
gave a response to a question he had parried earlier in the day.
What
was the voter turnout? He said it was 48 per cent. The figure
immediately sparked an uproar, particularly on social media, after
indications of a low voter turnout in the repeat presidential election.
An
hour later, Mr Chebukati appeared to retract his earlier statement,
tweeting it was “a best estimate turnout”, never mind the fact that the
integrated electronic voter identification kits should provide reliable
statistics. He gave a new figure of almost 34 per cent.
“Latest actual figures from 267 constituencies show 6,553,858 Kenyans turned out to vote,” he said.
This
was the latest in a list of about-turns that characterise Mr
Chebukati’s tenure at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries
Commission (IEBC).
CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH
When he showed up for the last briefing
on the eve of the fresh election, accompanied by IEBC vice-chairperson
Consolata Maina and other commissioners, Mr Chebukati was going to give
the October 26 vote a clean bill of health.
Days
earlier — after commissioner Roselyn Akombe resigned, fled to the
United States and began to spill the beans — the chairman, obviously
isolated by fellow commissioners, told the whole world that he could not
deliver a credible election under the prevailing conditions. Some
thought he would resign.
In
baffling blowing-hot-and-cold displays, Mr Chebukati can appear in
public and deliver statements in a self-assured manner, only to mellow
and appear later with a contradictory position.
While
this wavering position is partly attributable to the fact that Mr
Chebukati, as he has personally admitted, is under siege from within the
electoral agency and political players, questions have also been asked
about this character.
Dr Akombe, in an interview with the BBC, for instance, pointed out that had the chairman been firmer, the confusion at the IEBC would have been straightened out.
FRANCIS ATWOLI
Central
Organisation of Trade Unions secretary-general Francis Atwoli was blunt
in his observation. Speaking before the Thursday fresh poll, the vocal
unionist challenged the IEBC chairman to be more assertive.
“Chebukati
is not acting bold enough. He needs to stamp his authority as the
electoral boss and ask for more time to adequately prepare for the
repeat election,” said Mr Atwoli, whose wish on the election date was
not fulfilled.
Did it have to
take Dr Akombe’s resignation and revelation that there were divisions in
the commission and doubts on credibility for Mr Chebukati to finally go
public about his personal frustrations at the IEBC?
A
former vice- chairman of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya
(ECK), Mr Gabriel Mukele, considers this as a pointer to Mr Chebukati’s
lack of self-belief.
“That
he had been quiet all along, only to gain courage to speak about his
tribulations after (Dr) Akombe had shown the way does not speak well of
his bravery and leadership qualities,” said Mr Mukele.
LEGAL ADVICE
According
to the former electoral agency boss, Mr Chebukati should have sought
legal advice from the Supreme Court on postponing the election the
moment he and Dr Akombe publicly admitted that they could not guarantee
its credibility.
“Steadfastness
is a crucial attribute for any referee, even in a soccer game. It is
very dangerous to give mixed signals,” he said.
In
her resignation statement, Dr Akombe mentioned attempts to seek advice
from the Supreme Court on the election date. However, the idea was shot
down by the majority of commissioners. Mr Mukele insisted that Mr
Chebukati should, nonetheless, have proceeded to court in his personal
capacity as returning officer of the presidential election.
This is just one of the instances where Mr Chebukati has wanted to act but backtracked altogether.
Similarly,
despite Mr Chebukati’s hard-hitting memo to IEBC chief executive
officer Ezra Chiloba, demanding answers on the secretariat’s conduct of
the August poll, the matter has since died down. Mr Chebukati’s move to
suspend Mr Chiloba and two other IEBC officials was equally disregarded.
CHALLENGING JOB
Mr
Joseph Simekha, a political commentator, said: “He (Chebukati) has
totally undermined himself. He lacks the spine for this challenging job
and has allowed his juniors to toss him around and subject his decisions
to a vote.”
While empathising
with Mr Chebukati over his tribulations at the commission, where he cuts
a lonely figure, former IEBC vice-chairperson Lillian Mahiri-Zaja
attributes some of the hitches at the electoral agency to its mode of
operations.
“Chebukati is only a
team leader and it is, therefore, unfair to blame him squarely for the
failures of the electoral agency. However, during our times, we rarely
voted on issues. Our decisions were largely discussed and decided on
merit and this is the way that Chebukati and his team ought to go,” said
Ms Mahiri-Zaja.
Dr Akombe has
similarly observed that Mr Chebukati is a “well-meaning” individual,
whose efforts are, however, impeded by interference from high-profile
politicians: “In such (volatile) situations as is currently the case in
Kenya, you need a boss who is calm and level-headed as Chebukati,” she
said during the BBC interview.
POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
Talking
about political interference, Mr Chebukati has also been accused by
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party of being friendlier to Mr Raila
Odinga’s National Super Alliance (Nasa).
At
the same time, Mr Chebukati has been accused by Nasa of either doing
the bidding for Jubilee or succumbing to intimidation from the
President’s party.
Two days
ahead of the Thursday poll, for instance, Mr Chebukati paid Mr Kenyatta a
visit at his Harambee House office, a matter that drew harsh criticism,
with some wondering why he did not meet “candidate Kenyatta” at his
Anniversary Towers offices, instead.
“That
was another wrong move. Much as (Mr) Kenyatta is the Head of State,
Chebukati was meeting him as a candidate in a game where he is the boss
or referee,” said Mr Mukele.
The
former ECK vice-chairman equally remembers being summoned by a powerful
minister, who has since died, in April 2007, but declined to go.
BLOODY EVENTS
“I
paid the price ‘for not playing ball’ when my contract was not
extended. But I cried at the sight of the bloody events of 2007.”
The
chairman of the electoral agency at the time was Mr Samuel Kivuitu, who
appeared to inflame the situation by openly confessing that his poll
officials may have been “cooking figures”.
His
admission later that he was not sure who won the election, even after
declaring Mr Mwai Kibaki victor, totally eroded his personal
credibility.
Mr Kivuitu
succeeded Mr Zacchaeus Chesoni, who was the head of the electoral
commission during the first multi-party elections of 1992.
REFEREE
Although accused of being pro-establishment, he was a firm and principled referee, who never gave room for ambiguities.
Former
IEBC boss Issack Hassan is similarly credited for consistency, a worthy
attribute in polls management, as opposed to Mr Chebukati’s apparent
flip-flopping.
In Mr
Chebukati’s own admission, he has already created history negatively by
being the first electoral agency’s boss to have his presidential results
voided.
“I want to state
categorically that I shall not go down in history as the national
returning officer who plunged the country into further crisis than I
found,” he said recently in a statement.
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