IEBC chiefs fault petition on their ouster
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Issack Hassan. There exists a view that Hassan, like the troubled CEO James Oswago, has already conducted his last General Election and that his departure from the IEBC is the minimum concession that can be made to put the 2013 elections to rest and allow the country to move on. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- In 23-page response delivered by IEBC chairman Issack Hassan, the commissioners insisted the elections were free, fair and credible
Top officials of the electoral body appeared in front of a parliamentary committee on Tuesday and denied accusations of violating the Constitution while conducting last year’s General Election.
Nine commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said the accusations were “far-fetched and not true.”
In a 23-page response delivered by IEBC chairman Issack Hassan, the commissioners insisted the elections were free, fair and credible.
The IEBC commissioners appeared before Parliament’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to respond to a petition by Mr Robert Wafula Buke.
The petitioner accuses IEBC’s nine commissioners of “serious violation of the constitution, gross misconduct in performance of the functions and duties” and that they were generally incompetent in managing the 2013 elections.
He is seeking their removal from office.
'FISHING EXPEDITION'
In response, IEBC chairman Mr Hassan termed the petition as a “fishing expedition,” incompetent, misconceived, bad in law and that it had been filed with an ulterior motive.
“It is an abuse of a legitimate process vested in the national assembly by the constitution…This petition is nebulous in that it makes vague allegations about the Commission. The petition is not supported by cogent evidence to which we can respond,” said Mr Hassan.
Mr Buke further claims the IEBC commissioners misspent public funds in procuring the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) and the Electronic Voters Identification Devices (EVID).
Both systems cost about Sh7.9 billion, but the EVID largely failed on voting day, forcing the commission to revert to manual registers.
IEBC’s CEO James Oswago, his deputy Wilson Shollei and Director of Finance Willy Gachanja have since been charged with improper procurement of EVID.
PROCUREMENT ROLE
On Tuesday, the commissioners said they had little role in the procurement at the electoral body, their responsibility being limited to approving the budget and procurement plan.
“None of us sits on those (tender) committees. My conduct in the commission is beyond reproach,” said commissioner Thomas Letangule, who chaired the IEBC’s Dispute Resolution Committee after the elections.
The petitioner also alleges that IEBC used “multiple non-gazetted” registers and had conflicting tallies from the same polling stations.
Other IEBC commissioners that Mr Buke wants removed are Lilian Mahiri-Zaja (vice -chairperson), Abdullahi Sharawe, Thomas Letangule, Mohamed Alawi Hussun, Albert Camus Onyango Bwire, Kule Galma Godana, Yusuf Nzibo and Muthoni Wangai.
