Flip-flopping trait earns Wafula Chebukati condemnation

During a delayed update at the Bomas of Kenya on Thursday night, electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati gave a response to a question he had parried earlier in the day.

What was the voter turnout? He said it was 48 per cent. The figure immediately sparked an uproar, particularly on social media, after indications of a low voter turnout in the repeat presidential election.

An hour later, Mr Chebukati appeared to retract his earlier statement, tweeting it was “a best estimate turnout”, never mind the fact that the integrated electronic voter identification kits should provide reliable statistics. He gave a new figure of almost 34 per cent.

“Latest actual figures from 267 constituencies show 6,553,858 Kenyans turned out to vote,” he said.

This was the latest in a list of about-turns that characterise Mr Chebukati’s tenure at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH

When he showed up for the last briefing on the eve of the fresh election, accompanied by IEBC vice-chairperson Consolata Maina and other commissioners, Mr Chebukati was going to give the October 26 vote a clean bill of health.

Days earlier — after commissioner Roselyn Akombe resigned, fled to the United States and began to spill the beans — the chairman, obviously isolated by fellow commissioners, told the whole world that he could not deliver a credible election under the prevailing conditions. Some thought he would resign.

In baffling blowing-hot-and-cold displays, Mr Chebukati can appear in public and deliver statements in a self-assured manner, only to mellow and appear later with a contradictory position.

While this wavering position is partly attributable to the fact that Mr Chebukati, as he has personally admitted, is under siege from within the electoral agency and political players, questions have also been asked about this character.

READ: Akombe lays it all bare in interview

Dr Akombe, in an interview with the BBC, for instance, pointed out that had the chairman been firmer, the confusion at the IEBC would have been straightened out.

FRANCIS ATWOLI

Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary-general Francis Atwoli was blunt in his observation. Speaking before the Thursday fresh poll, the vocal unionist challenged the IEBC chairman to be more assertive.

“Chebukati is not acting bold enough. He needs to stamp his authority as the electoral boss and ask for more time to adequately prepare for the repeat election,” said Mr Atwoli, whose wish on the election date was not fulfilled.

Did it have to take Dr Akombe’s resignation and revelation that there were divisions in the commission and doubts on credibility for Mr Chebukati to finally go public about his personal frustrations at the IEBC?

A former vice- chairman of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), Mr Gabriel Mukele, considers this as a pointer to Mr Chebukati’s lack of self-belief.

READ: Uhuru leads in disputed election

“That he had been quiet all along, only to gain courage to speak about his tribulations after (Dr) Akombe had shown the way does not speak well of his bravery and leadership qualities,” said Mr Mukele.

LEGAL ADVICE

According to the former electoral agency boss, Mr Chebukati should have sought legal advice from the Supreme Court on postponing the election the moment he and Dr Akombe publicly admitted that they could not guarantee its credibility.

“Steadfastness is a crucial attribute for any referee, even in a soccer game. It is very dangerous to give mixed signals,” he said.

In her resignation statement, Dr Akombe mentioned attempts to seek advice from the Supreme Court on the election date. However, the idea was shot down by the majority of commissioners. Mr Mukele insisted that Mr Chebukati should, nonetheless, have proceeded to court in his personal capacity as returning officer of the presidential election.

This is just one of the instances where Mr Chebukati has wanted to act but backtracked altogether.

Similarly, despite Mr Chebukati’s  hard-hitting memo to IEBC chief executive officer Ezra Chiloba, demanding answers on the secretariat’s conduct of the August poll, the matter has since died down. Mr Chebukati’s move to suspend Mr Chiloba and two other IEBC officials was equally disregarded.

CHALLENGING JOB

Mr Joseph Simekha, a political commentator, said: “He (Chebukati) has totally undermined himself. He lacks the spine for this challenging job and has allowed his juniors to toss him around and subject his decisions to a vote.”

While empathising with Mr Chebukati over his tribulations at the commission, where he cuts a lonely figure, former IEBC vice-chairperson Lillian Mahiri-Zaja attributes some of the hitches at the electoral agency to its mode of operations.

“Chebukati is only a team leader and it is, therefore, unfair to blame him squarely for the failures of the electoral agency. However, during our times, we rarely voted on issues. Our decisions were largely discussed and decided on merit and this is the way that Chebukati and his team ought to go,” said Ms Mahiri-Zaja.

Dr Akombe has similarly observed that Mr Chebukati is a “well-meaning” individual, whose efforts are, however, impeded by interference from high-profile politicians: “In such (volatile) situations as is currently the case in Kenya, you need a boss who is calm and level-headed as Chebukati,” she said during the BBC interview.

POLITICAL INTERFERENCE

Talking about political interference, Mr Chebukati has also been accused by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party of being friendlier to Mr Raila Odinga’s National Super Alliance (Nasa).

At the same time, Mr Chebukati has been accused by Nasa of either doing the bidding for Jubilee or succumbing to intimidation from the President’s party.

Two days ahead of the Thursday poll, for instance, Mr Chebukati paid Mr Kenyatta a visit at his Harambee House office, a matter that drew harsh criticism, with some wondering why he did not meet “candidate Kenyatta” at his Anniversary Towers offices, instead.

“That was another wrong move. Much as (Mr) Kenyatta is the Head of State, Chebukati was meeting him as a candidate in a game where he is the boss or referee,” said Mr Mukele.

The former ECK vice-chairman equally remembers being summoned by a powerful minister, who has since died, in April 2007, but declined to go.

BLOODY EVENTS

“I paid the price ‘for not playing ball’ when my contract was not extended. But I cried at the sight of the bloody events of 2007.”

The chairman of the electoral agency at the time was Mr Samuel Kivuitu, who appeared to inflame the situation by openly confessing that his poll officials may have been “cooking figures”.

His admission later that he was not sure who won the election, even after declaring Mr Mwai Kibaki victor, totally eroded his personal credibility.

Mr Kivuitu succeeded Mr Zacchaeus Chesoni, who was the head of the electoral commission during the first multi-party elections of 1992.

REFEREE

Although accused of being pro-establishment, he was a firm and principled referee, who never gave room for ambiguities.

Former IEBC boss Issack Hassan is similarly credited for consistency, a worthy attribute in polls management, as opposed to Mr Chebukati’s apparent flip-flopping.

In Mr Chebukati’s own admission, he has already created history negatively by being the first electoral agency’s boss to have his presidential results voided.

“I want to state categorically that I shall not go down in history as the national returning officer who plunged the country into further crisis than I found,” he said recently in a statement.