IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati has asked the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to reschedule the planned meeting which was meant to take place on Wednesday. Addressing the press at Parliament, the Chairman of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee William Cheptumo said the communication came late, “This morning we received a letter requesting that we adjourn the meeting. The letter before us communicates why the remaining other commissioners are unable to appear,” he said, “They should’ve informed us earlier but they didn’t.”
According to the letter, the IEBC chairman said he’ll be conducting two by-elections, in Nyeri and Kwale Counties. This comes after three IEBC commissioners took a surprising turn and resigned on Monday, citing poor leadership in the Commision. However, the committee Chairman said their task won’t be to put pressure on the remaining commissioners to resign, contrary to public perception, “Those who resigned did so on their own motion the remaining commissioners are duly appointed to serve in the Commission and it’s not the business of the committee to prevail upon the members to resign,” said Cheptumo.
He said they play an oversight role and will deal with more pertinent and vital issues given that it’s evident cracks are visible in IEBC. “If you are in a Commision that is not functional then it follows that being reasonable Kenyans, you make the best decision either way,” he said, referring to the remaining IEBC Commissioners, “Our concern is the bigger picture, how are we replacing those who resigned or how we are going to have an entire Commission team in place.” Cheptumo said it’s a matter of gravity because the electoral commission has a place in the budgetary allocation and that equates to public resources being used.
Three IEBC commissioners-Vice Chair Consolate Maina, Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat-announced their resignation on Monday, saying the commission’s leadership hasn’t been ideal and accused Chairman Wafula Chebuklati of lacking the traits required to steer the IEBC ship through murky waters. Furthermore, CEO Ezra Chiloba had been sent on compulsory leave to pave way for an audit on good procured last year.