Wafula Chebukati: Why we won't appear before Kalonzo-Ichung'wah team
Former IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati with ex-commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye. They left office on January 17, 2023, after serving a six-year non-renewable term.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) former chairman Wafula Chebukati has said he will not appear before the National Dialogue Committee to discuss the 2022 General Election.
In a joint letter to the committee chairmen Kimani Ichung'wah (Kenya Kwanza) and Kalonzo Musyoka (Azimio), Mr Chebukati and ex-IEBC commissioners Abdi Guliye and Molu Boya said they would not appear because the committee "wants to discuss issues that have been resolved and appearing before the committee would be tantamount to betraying IEBC staff".
"Professor Abdi Guliye, Molu Boya and I won't appear before the National Dialogue Committee to discuss issues that have been resolved. To do so would be to betray IEBC staff who have been tortured and murdered and to reward impunity. Instead, a commission of inquiry should be formed," he said in a post on X.
The three said that since the Supreme Court had already concluded the contentious issues surrounding the presidential election, they were not willing to participate because the outcome of the process would "sully the constitution and some of its organs".
'Delivered on our mandate'
“During our term in office, we delivered on our mandate, including (the) successful conduct of (the) 2022 General Election. It is through those elections that the president, governors, senators, members of the National Assembly and those of county assemblies now occupy their offices. Some of them are now members of this committee. The discharge of our constitutional and legal mandate as detailed above is self-evidencing,” the letter read in part.
“It is our fervent hope that in due course, a Commission of Inquiry will be set up to investigate the unfortunate incidences of August 15, 2022, at Bomas of Kenya which brought the image of our country into disrepute. The Inquiry should also uncover the reasons why some of the Commission's staff were abducted, tortured or even killed during the election period; identify persons responsible for those atrocities, and thereafter appropriate punishment should be meted out.”
