Ruto allies make new demands for commission of inquiry after Masit removal

President William Ruto’s team now wants him to move with speed and form a commission of inquiry to uncover the intrigues which surrounded the August poll following the findings of a tribunal that probed the conduct of poll officials.

With Justice Aggrey Muchelule-led tribunal having found Irene Masit guilty of gross misconduct for rejecting results announced by then-Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati, top leaders in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance are now saying that the Head of State has no choice but to form the commission to look into the matter.

While Ms Masit chose to face the tribunal, her former colleagues Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya and Francis Wanderi opted to resign instead.

In multiple interviews with the Sunday Nation, President Ruto’s allies  said the country cannot afford to go to another election come 2027 without Kenyans knowing what transpired ahead of the presidential results declaration at the Bomas of Kenya.

Strong IEBC

They argue that findings of a commission of inquiry will help to build a strong IEBC in which those in power will not be using their positions to usurp the will of the people.

According to National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, coming up with a commission of inquiry based on the findings of the Muchelule-led tribunal would safeguard the integrity of future elections.

The Kikuyu MP says failure to constitute a team that would probe the forces behind the ugly scenes of August 15 will make the perpetrators ‘emboldened’.

“The President should form a commission of inquiry. The more the matter remains unattended, the more the perpetrators get emboldened that they can get away with treasonable acts of attempting to overthrow the will of the people,” said Mr Ichung’wah.

“To forestall anyone else from ever imagining they can stage a similar coup against the people, action must be taken and the culprits exposed even if not for retribution but to be known and seek the people’s forgiveness,” he added.

Tribunal Counsel

The tribunal in its report found Ms Masit was in serious violation of the Constitution and gross misconduct through her actions of August 15, saying she showed “she was amenable to improper influence and that she could not be trusted to be an impartial and neutral arbiter”.

“The evidence by Tribunal Counsel, according to us, remained unshaken and we accept it. Consequently, we make a finding that the commission was visited by the two delegations and their mission was as stated by the witnesses,” the report said in part.

“We make a further finding that Commissioner Masit agreed with the request by the delegation that they needed to interfere with the result by either declaring Baba as the winner or in the alternative they are moderated to allow for a re-run. They threatened that if that was not done the country would be plunged into chaos,” it added.

Following the recommendation of the tribunal, President Ruto on Wednesday sacked Ms Masit as IEBC Commissioner, declaring another vacancy at the electoral body.

Both Kenya Kwanza and Azimio La Umoja One Kenya of Raila Odinga have agreed on revisiting the August polls but through different methods.

While Mr Odinga’s side has continued to push for auditing the election results, President Ruto’s camp is now pursuing retribution against the persons they accuse of alleged subversion.

IEBC servers

The former Prime Minister has underscored the need of opening the IEBC servers with foreign experts leading the auditing, something which President Ruto has dismissed although his team yesterday vowed that those who wanted to overturn the will of Kenyans will not go scot-free.

Mr Odinga and his team insist that President Ruto must open the IEBC servers and hire foreign experts to audit the polls so as to conclude the matter once and for all.

“Servers are yet to be opened and if they are opened, I am sure that Kenyans will know the truth and the truth is that Ruto got 5.9 million votes and myself, Raila Amolo Odinga, 8.1 million votes. I am speaking openly and I cannot be intimidated. How can you intimidate me and I defeated you? If you know that I didn’t defeat you, open the servers and we invite experts then the truth will be known,” said the Azimio honcho on Sunday while in Trans Nzoia.

Deputy Majority Leader in the National Assembly Owen Baya, another Ruto ally, yesterday told the Nation that the commission of inquiry is necessary because it will help to improve elections management in the country.

Improve elections

“The President is still studying the report and will implement its recommendations. It is important the nation understands what happened such that we do not go back to such events. The Krigler report helped to improve elections law in this country and we hope that when a commission of inquiry is instituted, we are most likely to improve elections management,” said the Kilifi North MP.

Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda, another ally of President Ruto, says they are not going to relent on their push to have the Head of State form a commission of inquiry into the 2022 General Election.

“We have to get to the bottom of it and know what was the motive and why and they should face the full force of the law so that we don't have such events happening again in the future,” said Mr Jhanda.

After the 2007 polls, the country witnessed such scrutiny, outside the court framework, in the wake of the disputed presidential election.

 An inquiry by the Justice Johann Kriegler-led Independent Review Commission found the election to have been deeply flawed to the extent that it was impossible to determine who won.

But National Assembly Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro is of the contrary opinion in regard to the commission, saying what is important is implementing campaign pledges.

“Constituting a commission of inquiry is not necessary. We should focus on more pressing issues that affect mwananchi,” said Mr Osoro.

Former IEBC chairman Chebukati had said the inquiry will be crucial in ensuring the independence of the polls body is respected to avert incidents of abuse of power.

“The outcome of the inquiry we believe will bolster the independence of the commission and make sure its maintains the stature contemplated in the Constitution. It will also enable a future election environment devoid of harassment, intimidation, profiling and harm of commission staff while discharging their duties,” Mr Chebukati said before his exit.

Ethnic profiling

He added: “The 2022 General Election witnessed probably the gravest attempt perhaps to usurp the independence of the commission and the sovereign will of the people of Kenya as expressed in the polls. This attempt took the form of ethnic profiling, open threatening of some members of the commission, arrest and holding incommunicado of web staff and service providers...”

In a joint media interview early in January, President Ruto sounded hesitant on forming a commission of inquiry, saying his administration has other more immediate priorities.

“I want to promise you the story of Bomas will be told one day... We will establish a commission one day, if you were to sit where I am sitting you will know why I am going slow on certain things to get out of the mess we are in. The events of August 15 were horrible because even the military, a sacred institution, was roped into the scheme to sabotage the will of the people of Kenya because of the State capture menace,” said Dr Ruto.

He added: “If Chebukati were to tell you the kind of hell he went through if the story of August 15 can be told; you will know why I am delaying... now I have to balance between sorting out the economy or do I swing this big thing that will drain our energy...”

Download the tribunal's full report here: IEBC Tribunal Report

Read: Raila's own goal on IEBC

IEBC: Graveyard of careers that never seems to fill up

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