People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has gone bare-knuckle at President William Ruto, accusing him of deliberately engineering a leadership crisis at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to delay the 2027 General Elections.

Speaking during a local TV interview on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, Karua claimed the president illegally forced out IEBC commissioners to cripple the commission and manipulate the electoral process in his favour.

“If Ruto wants us to meet him at the ballot, let him change his ways. He and his illegitimate rogue regime. If not, Kenyans have the power to terminate your contract earlier,” Karua stated.

She went on to say that the president intentionally created a leadership vacuum at the IEBC by pushing out commissioners whose terms were still valid.

“Ruto deliberately and illegally pushed out IEBC commissioners whose tenure would still have been valid to delay the process. It is not right that all commissioners go at the same time and we are left without IEBC. That is why there was a broken down hiring,” she added.

Karua also took issue with the handling of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) process, blaming it for wasting time without yielding real results.

“If you remember the NADCO report, which I was against, they took one year discussing, they have taken more than a year in legislation in Parliament, and now the commissioners are yet to be appointed properly because he appointed them against a court order. It is deliberate,” she said.

Crisis at IEBC

Her remarks come at a time when the IEBC is deep in crisis, with serious concerns about its readiness to manage the upcoming general elections.

The commission has been operating without a chairperson or commissioners since the resignation of the Cherera Four and the retirement of former Chair the late Wafula Chebukati, alongside commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye.

On June 10, 2025, President Ruto appointed seven new commissioners, including Chairperson Erastus Ethekon. However, their swearing-in was blocked by a court order after several petitions challenged the legality of the selection process. Petitioners argued that the appointments were not inclusive, lacked transparency, and failed to meet constitutional requirements such as gender balance and representation of minorities and persons with disabilities. A High Court ruling expected on July 10 will determine whether the appointments will stand or be nullified.

The commission’s operations have also stalled due to the absence of leadership. One of the critical issues awaiting attention is the electoral boundaries review, which should have been completed by March 2024. With no commissioners to guide the process, IEBC has turned to the Supreme Court for direction, while Parliament debates the possibility of extending the deadline.

Last week, the voter verification system was briefly taken offline without notice. Millions of Kenyans were unable to check their registration.

Financial troubles have worsened the commission’s challenges. While the IEBC had requested Ksh61.7 billion for its operations, the National Treasury approved only Ksh57.38 billion, leaving a funding gap of over Ksh4.3 billion.

The commission is also struggling with debts amounting to more than Ksh3.7 billion from unpaid suppliers and past by-elections.

These shortfalls threaten to undermine its ability to conduct voter registration, procure materials, and plan logistics ahead of 2027.