Why Chebukati is person of interest in Jubilee’s bid to change poll laws

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati leaves County Hall in Nairobi on October 5, 2017 after appearing before the de facto committees on electoral laws amendments. But with only 19 days to the repeat presidential election, life has just got harder for him. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Chebukati was embarrassment when the August 8 presidential election result overturned by the Supreme Court.
  • In the murky world of Kenya’s power games, no good deed goes unpunished.

Wafula Chebukati, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman, is coolness personified during his public appearances.

Whether it is opposition protesters baying for his blood outside Anniversary Towers or State agents dragging one of his commissioners out of an aeroplane at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the gathering storm is never too heavy to handle for Mr Chebukati.

The only time I ever heard the IEBC boss’ voice betray hints of nervousness on national television was the day he led his team to the City Mortuary to view the body of Chris Msando, the commission’s murdered ICT manager whose body was found in Kikuyu.

ELECTION
After the embarrassment of seeing the August 8 presidential election result overturned by the Supreme Court, Mr Chebukati would be forgiven for thinking he had seen it all during his busy 10 months in the hot seat.

But with only 19 days to the repeat presidential election, life has just got harder for him.

On the face of it, the same could be said of just about everyone else at the IEBC given the credibility crisis the commission has struggled with since the bungled presidential poll.

ELECTORAL LAWS

But Mr Chebukati’s case is special. Of all the commissioners and senior officials, he is the only one that currently does not appear to enjoy the full confidence of the most powerful player in the election: the State.

His humiliation in Parliament on Thursday when he initially sought to appear before the all-Jubilee Select Committee on Election Laws (Amendment) Bill minus the other commissioners was a familiar Kenyan treatment for persons who have fallen out of favour with the powers-that-be.

The message the ruling party MPs and senators were sending to Mr Chebukati is that he is no longer trusted to speak for the commission he chairs.

POLL RESULTS

Indeed, one of the major changes proposed in the Bill is the clipping of the chairman’s wings with regard to declaring the presidential election results and the handing of similar powers to his juniors.

If passed, as it mostly likely will be, the amended law sets the stage for a rather bizarre game on October 26 when the referee might be sent to the touchline and the linesmen called in to blow the whistle for the winning penalty.

Less bizarre however is how Mr Chebukati found himself a person of interest for the Jubilee operatives in the first place.

CHILOBA

The first wrong move he made was to set up a project team to run the repeat election from which he excluded a number of senior officials the opposition had linked to illicit dealings with Jubilee.

Then there was that memo he fired to Ezra Chiloba, the IEBC chief executive officer, some time back demanding an explanation of why they got it so wrong.

Whereas the Supreme Court decision didn’t find anyone culpable for the bungled presidential election, the Chebukati memo all but disclosed who did what and how.

In the murky world of Kenya’s power games, no good deed goes unpunished.

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