Relieved Hassan says he can now prepare for next poll
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Issack Hassan at a past event in Nairobi on May 15, 2016. The IEBC boss on Wednesday said he will now turn his full attention to next year’s elections after the anti-corruption agency cleared him in the Chickengate scandal. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Hassan said he had been fighting false allegations by Auditor-General William Ouko and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
- Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, in a statement on Tuesday, said the charges had been dropped for lack of evidence.
- The select committee, co-chaired by senators Kiraitu Murungi and James Orengo is investigating IEBC with the intention to push its members out of office.
Electoral commission boss Issack Hassan on Wednesday said he will now turn his full attention to next year’s elections after the anti-corruption agency cleared him in the Chickengate scandal.
Mr Hassan said he had been fighting false allegations by Auditor-General William Ouko and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
“There is a God who never sleeps nor slumbers. I have been fighting for so long to clear my name from the baseless allegations,” he said.
Even though he said there were still some things to iron out with the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, Mr Hassan said he was delighted.
He was speaking a day after the commission dropped charges against him and some members who served in the Interim Independent Electoral Commission regarding a Sh46 million security documents tender awarded to UK’s Smith & Ouzman Ltd.
“I have been personally tried, and even ridiculed, in the court of public opinion in regard to the so called ‘Chickengate scandal’. I have always maintained my innocence and the outcome of the investigations comes as a relief,” he said.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, in a statement on Tuesday, said the charges had been dropped for lack of evidence but recommended the prosecution of former IEBC chief executive John Oswago and Smith & Ouzman agent Trevy Oyombra, Hamida Ali Kibwana and Kenneth Karani.
On Wednesday, Mr Hassan said the commission was preparing to supervise the next elections even as a parliamentary select team investigates it.
“The commissioners will continue guiding the secretariat on preparations for the polls until and unless there are changes to the constitutional responsibilities bestowed on upon them,” he said.
ELECTORAL REFORMS
He urged MPs to stop interfering with the commission.
“As we await investigations and recommendations on the future of the IEBC and elections in Kenya, I urge politicians and other stakeholders not to destabilise the electoral body. The approach and spirit of all processes should and must always be to improve and strengthen the commission,” he said.
The select committee, co-chaired by senators Kiraitu Murungi (Jubilee) and James Orengo (Cord) is investigating the commission with the intention to push its members out of office.
The team has agreed on the need to send home the IEBC commissioners but it has to collect views from key players on the changes to effected.
Mr Hassan said the commissioners were ready to appear before the select team to present their views on electoral reforms. “We are ready to go before the select committee to give our views. We hope the media will be fair to us from now,” he said.
Early this week, JLAC which is chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samwel Chepkonga, found Mr Hassan and IEBC commissioners not responsible for the allegations which were raised against them by the Auditor General and its report was adopted on Tuesday by in the National Assembly after a fierce exchange.
The High Court was the first to find Mr Hassan and his team innocent from the allegations.
