Chebukati, Guliye, Molu Decline To Appear Before Dialogue Committee

Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati and ex-commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu will not appear before the National Dialogue Committee.

The trio was set to appear before the committee on Thursday.

But according to Chebukati, participating in the dialogue talks would be a “reward for impunity”.

The former IEBC boss said their presence would be a betrayal to IEBC staff who were tortured and murdered over the 2022 polls.

Instead, Chebukati said, a Commission of Inquiry should be formed.

“Prof @abdiguliye @moluboya & I won’t be appearing before the National Dialogue Committee to discuss issues that have been resolved. To participate would be to betray IEBC staff who were tortured & murdered & a reward for impunity. Instead a Commission of Inquiry should be formed,” said Chebukati.

Prof @abdiguliye @moluboya & I won’t be appearing before the National Dialogue Committee to discuss issues that have been resolved. To participate would be to betray IEBC staff who were tortured & murdered & a reward for impunity. Instead a Commission of Inquiry should be formed. pic.twitter.com/3BOhsnke8V

— Wafula Chebukati EGH (@WChebukati) September 28, 2023

The commission of inquiry, he explained, should be set up to investigate the atrocities of August 15, 2022, at Bomas of Kenya which tainted Kenya’s image.

“The inquiry should also uncover the reasons why some of the Commission abducted, tortured or even killed during the election period; identify persons responsible for those atrocities,” he said.

He added that following the conclusion of the inquiry, proper action should be taken against those found culpable.

Chebukati emphasized that the results of the investigation will strengthen the IEBC’s independence and guarantee that it maintains the status envisioned in the Constitution.

The committee had also invited former IEBC vice chair Juliana Cherera and commissioners Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang’aya.

The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, the Council of Governors, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, the Media Council of Kenya and Amnesty International were also summoned.

Others were Transparency International and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research Analysis.

The 10-member dialogue committee is deliberating issues the Opposition has with the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Other issues on the table are; the high cost of living, an audit of the 2022 general election and the bipartisan reconstitution of the IEBC.