Court gives Chebukati 1 day to respond to petition challenging his suitability to conduct elections

The High Court has granted Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati until Thursday, August 4 to respond to a petition seeking to bar him from presiding over the August 9 general election.

Justice Murage Thande made the directive after Chebukati sought to be given 48 hours to respond to the case filed by Homabay resident Sigar Agunda.

“I direct the Chebukati and the commission who are listed as respondents in the case to file their responses by close of business Thursday, August 4, 2022,” Justice Thande ruled.

She also directed the petitioner Agunda to file his submissions by Friday ahead of the hearing on August 8, 2022.

In his petition, Agunda wants Chebukati barred from overseeing the forthcoming elections claiming that he abused his powers when he scrapped the use of the manual voters’ register as a supplementary approach to the biometric.

“A declaration that Chebukati is unfit for his functions as the chairperson of the IEBC and as the Returning Officer for presidential elections.

“A mandatory order requiring him to immediately appoint and gazette a Deputy Returning Officer for presidential elections slated for August 9, 2022,” the petitioner states in his court papers.

Chebukati refuses use of manual register

Through lawyer Otieno Aluoka, Agunda said if the chairman is not restrained from presiding over the general election slated for next week, the same will be compromised.

“The man (Chebukati) has refused the use of manual voter as a complementary approach to the biometric, even to the point of necessitating a court suit and political pressure before conceding grounds,” states Agunda.

“He has created 10,000 black hole polling stations that we can’t tell where they will be operating and because of recent events, foreign entities are knee-highly involved in the interferences of our country’s general elections,” he added.

The petition seeking the removal of Chebukati was necessitated by his decision on June 10 to reject the use of manual voter registers in every polling station in the upcoming polls.

Chebukati, in what is viewed as a shift from tradition, announced that the electoral commission would only rely on a digital register to serve the 22.1 million voters and avoid manipulation of the polling exercise.

While issuing the directive, Chebukati cited section 44 of the Election Act which makes it mandatory for IEBC to use technology for the purposes of voter identification during the election exercise.