IEBC Four and Azimio statements were from same script, petitioner says
Geoffrey Langat, one of the petitioners seeking the removal of four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Commissioners from the office has said that the four, whom he has categorized as renegade commissioners, attempted to subvert the will of the people.
While appearing before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs (JLAC) on Friday, Mr Langat said there were some forces behind the four commissioners, and that they were not working independently.
According to the petitioner, who is also an advocate, IEBC vice chairperson Juliana Cherera, and Commissioners Julius Nyang’aya, Irene Massit, and Francis Wanderi operated outside their mandate by attempting to compel the chairperson to do as they wished.
Also read: 5 key moments in President Ruto’s visit to South Korea
He said his petition is grounded in Article 251 of the Constitution, which touches on the procedures of removing a member of a commission from the office.
Mr Langat also said the four commissioners’ statements and that of the Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga were from the same script.
“When people read similar things, their actions, their movements, their songs, their dancing are the same, they are probably reading from the same script, it can never be a coincidence,” Mr Langat said.
Mr Langat told the committee that the statement that the four commissioners made at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi on August 15, 2022 minutes before the announcement of the presidential election results was systematically arranged so that in less than five minutes, the Azimio made their statement as well from KICC, which was their command centre.
Also read: Finally… Ruto and Rachel toast, but Kenyans want to know what they drank
“The dark test would confirm that they are one, and the same people reading from the same script, probably even drafted by the same person,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner also said that during the movement of the four commissioners to Serena Hotel o make the statement, there was commotion at the Bomas of Kenya, which was the national tallying centre, which he alleged to have been caused by Azimio.
“The percentages which were even quoted by the Vice-chairperson Cherera and the figures which were quoted by Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga were nearly the same… saying that the presidential election has not reached the 50 plus one percent,” he said.
Mr Langat added that the statement from the four commissioners and Azimio la Umoja had similar objectives, hence, a connection.
Also read: A win for France is a win for Africa, Raila joins the banter