Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati has brushed off Raila Odinga’s calls to have IEBC Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera oversee the upcoming elections in Mombasa and Kakamega.
“The Commission wishes to inform the public that the statements made today by Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga with regard to the role of the Chairman in the two Gubernatorial elections scheduled for Monday 29th August 2022 are misleading”, Chebukati said.
According to Chebukati, the gubernatorial elections are run by the returning officers as provided by the laws that run the country.
“Gubernatorial elections are run by gazetted Returning Officers as provided for by the law. For avoidance of doubt, Returning Officers for Mombasa and Kakamega counties are Ibrahim Swalhah Yusuf and Joseph Ayatta, respectively,” Chebukati added.
The Azimio leader had earlier stated that the IEBC chair should resign from office and not in any way participate in these elections due to actively engaging in election malpractice.
According to Raila, Chebukati was a suspect by virtue of the petitions filed in the supreme court to challenge the outcome of the presidential results.
Odinga further claimed that the IEBC Chairman had announced the Deputy President William Ruto as the president-elect through falsified presidential results.
The former premier made these statements while in Mombasa county where he was campaigning for the Azimio La Umoja gubernatorial candidate Abdulswamad Nassir.