President William Ruto’s supporters hoped few people would attend the December 7 Kamkunji rally Azimio leader Raila Odinga called.
They were wrong.
Supporters thronged Kamkunji Grounds and returning the campaign vibes back in the City.
With less than 100 days after President William Ruto’s inauguration, opposition politicians gathered to protest the new government’s abuse of power
Opposition leader Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua led a group of protestors in a well-attended protest dubbed “Public Consultation” about the situation in Kenya and protest the removal of four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioners (IEBC).
Karua took issue with the lack of involving Kenyans in the GMO decision. She also faulted the government for elevating people with questionable backgrounds into government positions and called it “serikali ya majambazi,” and criticized Ruto for dishing out most of the top jobs to only two tribes, which she said is against the constitution.
As Azimio leaders led by Rt Hon @RailaOdinga made their way to Kamukunji Grounds. Love the energy and enthusiasm of the people. pic.twitter.com/tnEQpVLQ4O
— Muhammad Nyamwanda (@Nyamwanda) December 7, 2022
“The events in Parliament yesterday on the formula of appointing IEBC and the hounding of the four commissioners have nothing to do with integrity but about 2027. Ruto wants to rig the 2027 election in 2022. We should not allow this to happen,” Raila Odinga.
Odinga took an issue with IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati saying he stole his victory, and spoke about the worsening cost of living in Kenya.
A tribunal appointed to look into the dismissal of the famously known “Cherera Four” has sparked a war of words between Kenyan President William Ruto and opposition chief Raila Odinga, his closest competitor in the August polls.
The tribunal came after Ruto suspended the four commissioners from serving in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and appointed Justice Agrey Muchelule to probe their conduct in the August general elections.
The Friday decision has opened a war of words on Twitter between the two leaders.
He said the suspension of the four commissioners should not be taken lightly as it’s a sign of a government that does not follow the constitution.
Odinga claimed Ruto is implementing measures to rig the next general elections in 2027 and accused the head of state of walking on the path to dictatorship and treating the four commissioners—Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi, and Justus Nyang’aya—unfairly.
The Azimio leader asserted the new procedure and reforms adopted by Parliament last week on Thursday for choosing the commissioners of the electoral board we dishonest, and it was worth noting that the suspension of the commissioners would leave the electoral body dysfunctional and without a quorum.
“The events in Parliament yesterday on the formula of appointing IEBC and the hounding of the four commissioners have nothing to do with integrity but about 2027. Ruto wants to rig the 2027 election in 2022. We should not allow this to happen,” Odinga said.
He said the sequence of events leading to the suspension of the commissioners suggests coordination between the office of the president, the parliament and judiciary. Odinga likened the frequent meetings between the administration officials and the Supreme Court justices as evidence the court has lost her independence and is acting as Ruto’s rubber-stamp.
The President took to Twitter on Saturday and alleged that the retired Prime Minister was hatching a plot to overthrow the people’s will. Ruto reiterated that the law would make the final call.
“Even with the system/deep state, you LOST the election. STOP deluding yourself & LYING. The coup to OVERTURN the PEOPLE’S will using rogue commissioners, you are now threatening us with maandamano. Their guilt or innocence will be determined by TRIBUNAL. RULE of LAW it is,” Ruto tweeted.
The national assembly, through the justice and legal affairs committee (JLAC), recommended the dismissal of the four commissioners after conducting hearings last week to determine their fate. The Liberty Party, Rev. David Thumba, Geoffrey Lagat, and Steve Gerry submitted four petitions to the committee.
The committee, led by Tharaka MP George Murugara, decided the petition had solid grounds for creating a tribunal to conduct investigations on the conduct of the four commissioners.
“The House resolves that the petitions therein be sent to the president, that the President appoints the tribunal to deal with the matters, and that the President suspends the commissioners pending determination by the tribunal,” Murugara said.
On October 15, the four IEBC commissioners left Bomas of Kenya, the national tallying center, in disagreement with Chairman Wafula Chebukati during the tail-end process of tallying the presidential results.
Led by Juliana Cherera, the commission’s vice chair, they held a press conference where they discredited the results and described the process as opaque.
There is due process and natural justice, things aren't just done at the whims of the executive.
The rule of law must prevail and not your jungle laws that you want to institute so as to subjugate Kenyans to a conveyor belt system of elections come 2027.
We shall not relent. https://t.co/wraA8Ocbul
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) November 25, 2022
Kalonzo Muskoka, leader of the Wiper Party, has said Azimio will not be a lame-duck opposition, and they will discharge their duties accordingly and keep the government in check. He, however, said he has a bone to pick with the President for dismissing the four IEBC commissioners.
He said they have a right to hold parallel meetings as they wish, and Ruto was using his powers to gain an advantage in the 2027 elections. Kalonzo told Ruto not to pre-rig the 2027 general elections and called for justice for the four embattled commissioners.
“No one who wants to be a candidate in 2027 has permission to dismiss the IEBC four. We will not allow Ruto to misuse his powers,” Kalonzo said.
Cherera, the vice chairperson of IEBC, Justus Nyang’aya, and Francis Wanderi have already resigned before the probe on their conduct begins.
Cherera wrote to the President on Monday, notifying him of her decision to step down as the vice chairperson and commissioner at IEBC.
“It is with immense woe that today I tender my resignation as commissioner and vice chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” Cherera said.
In her letter, Cherera said she discharged her responsibilities with diligence and noted assisting the commission in resolving challenges to do with corporate governance.
“However, my cumulative actions done in good faith are unfortunately misjudged and misinterpreted. After careful consideration and in consultation with my family and lawyers, I accept that my stay at the commission is no longer tenable and therefore choose to vacate.”
Justus Nyang’aya attributed his resignation to soul searching and prayers. In a letter to the President, Mr. Nyang’aya said he chose “fervent prayers and in the best interest of the nation.”
“In the last few weeks, I have had serious soul-searching and, being a man of faith, prayed fervently so that I may have the wisdom to make a decision that is in the best interest of the country. We all agree that the best interest of the nation must always supersede our interests,” Nyang’aya said.
“No one who wants to be a candidate in 2027 has permission to dismiss the IEBC four. We will not allow Ruto to misuse his powers,” Kalonzo Musyoka- Wiper Leader
The opposition, led by Odinga— the Azimo leader —has started holding public consultative forums on December 7 at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi. He said the meetings would allow Kenyans to air their grievances on Ruto’s failed state and the broken promises, even after 100 days in office lapse without reducing basic commodities prices as promised.
Odinga said these meetings wouldn’t be demonstrations, as people were putting it. During a press conference on Monday at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation, Odinga stated that the opposition would use the forums to discuss the state of the nation.
Since then, he has advised the administration against sending security apparatus to the meetings. He noted security presence would instigate violence which they don’t want.
“If we intended to hold a protest, we would have called the police to provide protection; nevertheless, we are not staging a protest. We are not indulging in any thuggery or hooliganism, and no property will be damaged,” Odinga said.
The President had asked the opposition to provide an itinerary of their planned meeting so that the state would provide security.
Through the interior ministry, the government has stated that it will not obstruct their plan to gather as it is their constitutional right. Prof Kithure Kindiki, the interior cabinet secretary, has warned that violence during the gatherings would be dealt with accordingly.
“We will not politicize security. If we do so, we endanger the country. The future of this country lies in our institutions. We are therefore not interested in the agenda that those who want to protest this week are engaged in so long as its lawful agenda,” Kindiki said.
Meanwhile, political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi said that Raila intends to use the consultative forums to destabilize Ruto’s government.
“The problem with Kamukunji revolts is that they start in small installments. Little by little. Then they acquire a life of their own. This is how the Arab Spring started. Raila’s strategy is to destabilize Ruto the way Ruto disorganized Uhuru. Raila has nothing to lose,” Ngunyi tweeted.
A Blast From The Past
The IEBC commissioners drama comes amid a blast-from-the-past drama after the high court in Kenya found James Oswago, the former CEO of the electoral commission, guilty of corruption in connection with the 2013 purchase of Sh1.3 billion worth of voter identification gadgets by the anti-corruption court in Nairobi.
Chief Magistrate Felix Kombo jailed the former CEO for four years for the tender scam involving the purchase of Electronic Voter Identification Devices (EVID) for the March 4, 2013, General Election. The same fate met Wilson Kiprotich Shollei, the former deputy commission secretary in charge of support services.
They become the first top officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) convicted for graft-related offenses.