Kenyan electoral chair claims 4 commissioners wanted to alter elections results for re-run

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenya’s electoral chair broke his silence on Wednesday after four commissioners rejected the outcome of the country’s presidential elections results.

The Independent and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chair Wafula Chebukati said in a statement that during an Aug. 15 meeting, four commissioners who broke ranks regarding the results unsuccessfully pushed for a re-run.

“Before the final declaration of the Presidential Election results, the four commissioners i.e. Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang’aya and Irene Masit demanded that the chairperson moderates the results for purpose of forcing an election Re-run contrary to their oath of office,” he said.

Chebukati said he considered the move unconstitutional and illegal and tantamount to subverting the Constitution and the sovereign will of the Kenyan people.

He said he refused to yield to the demand and proceeded to declare the results as received from polling stations under the law.

Chebukati also said critical staff were intimidated and harassed through profiling and arbitrary arrests, with one murdered.

Four of seven members of the electoral commission disavowed elections results Monday because of errors in the final tally that have the capacity of swinging the vote.

Chebukati dismissed the rationale by the four commissioners, noting it is false and misleading.

IEBC Vice Chair Juliana Cherera said Tuesday that the aggregation of percentages of the results scored by the four presidential candidates who were on the ballot as declared by Chebukati presented a mathematical absurdity that defies logic.

Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected the results, which declared him to have lost.

Deputy President William Samoei Ruto was declared the fifth president Monday of the East African nation.

Ruto, 55, won the Aug. 9 elections by securing 7,176,141 votes. Odinga got 6,942,930 votes.