Kenya’s President William Ruto on Friday ordered the suspension of four independent electoral commissioners who disputed his win in the August presidential election and set up a panel to inquiry to investigate if they should be removed, the presidency said .
This comes as the national assembly urges Ruto to form a tribunal against the Commissioners — Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, Irene Masit and Francis Wanderi.
Raila Odinga, the veteran opposition leader who narrowly lost the August election has condemned Ruto’s action against the dissenting commissioners.
“They (Ruto’s government) have started a scheme to remove the four who stood for justice,” Odinga said on Friday and accused Ruto of trying to seize control of the management of the next election at the cost of acting on the promises he made to Kenyans.
“They want to appoint their own members of the commission to carry out their rigging in 2027,” Odinga said, vowing to hold public rallies to consult with Kenyans on the next steps.
The four Commisioners held a parallel news conference on Aug. 15 to say they could not be party to the results that were being announced live on television by the chairman and two other commissioners.
The dispute proceeded to the Supreme Court, which upheld the election of Ruto and rejected the arguments advanced by the four about the tallying process being opaque.
The court found that a “boardroom rupture” between the commissioners had undermined public confidence, but it was not enough to invalidate the election.
It, however, called for reforms in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
