United Democratic Alliance Secretary General Veronica Maina has urged state officials to stop micromanaging the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and allow it to conduct its affairs independently.
Speaking during a UDA aspirants forum in Karen, Nairobi County, Maina said State officials should not be part of the election management committee saying as State Officers they however have a right to campaign for their candidates.
“I ask our Cabinet Secretaries and state officers to step back and allow IEBC to enjoy its independence and do its work without interference,” she said.
Her sentiments came after Nyeri Town MP, Ngunjiri Wambugu, called for the resignation of the IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati over role of Cabinet Secretaries role in politics remarks.
According to the legislator, Chebukati was biased on his position on the involvement of Cabinet Secretaries in politics.
Wambugu said Chebukati comments can only be interpreted as political because Chebukati has never called out Deputy President who is a member of Cabinet, for taking a political position.
“In my opinion, Chebukati is quick to say that CSs should not take a political position and that is very biased,” he stated.
He noted that while CSs such as Fred Matiangi (Interior) and Joe Mucheru (ICT) have political opinions, they were not directly involved in the election while Chebukati is the head of the electoral agency.
“Chebukati has taken a position by taking sides between CSs and the DP, therefore, we should consider finding someone else to chair the IEBC who is not as obvious as he is,” Wambugu said.
The Nyeri Town MP said that if indeed the IEBC chair has taken a political position then the role of heading the team of referees who will be in charge of the upcoming election should be given to someone else.
Also, Defense CS Eugene Wamalwa and his Agriculture counterpart Peter Munya defied orders by Chebukati not to engage in politics.
Deputy President William Ruto, who was in the forum, said UDA will leverage the country’s abundance of human resource capital, readily made available by the youth, to grow the economy.
He said this will be achieved by creating jobs and opportunities for the youth through the implementation hustler friendly polices under the bottom up economic model.
“We need to create a working nation, whether you have a pay slip or not, as long as you are doing something that generates income,” he said.
At the same time, Ruto urged leaders from Rift Valley to work together to confront insecurity in the region that he said posed a threat to the region’s democracy and economic growth.
The forum brought together aspirants from Kericho, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Bomet, Uasin Gishu, Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot Counties, in the company of Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok and over 20 MPs.
