A tribunal has on Monday recommended the removal of suspended IEBC commissioner Irene Masit from office.
In a report, the Justice Aggrey Muchelule-led tribunal said the accusations facing Masit were proven.
“Therefore, this tribunal recommends to Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya, under the mandate assigned vide Gazette Notice No. 14790 of December 2, 2022, and further in accordance and in compliance with Article 251 (1) and (6) that Commissioner Irene Cherop Masit be removed from office as a member of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” reads the report in part.
According to the tribunal, the evidence tabled before them showed that Masit had engaged in gross misconduct during the general elections of 2022 and had violated the Constitution.
The tribunal noted that two delegations, one made up of “Elders” led by former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju and members of the National Security Advisory Council (NSAC) Kennedy Ogeto (then Solicitor General), Hillary Mutyambai (then Inspector General of Police), and Lieutenant General Francis Omondi Ogolla (Vice Chief of Defence Forces), visited each commissioner and urged them to moderate the results or force a run-off.
“Secondly, the actions by the commissioners to proceed to Serena (hotel) to issue the presser to disown the result that she had participated in tallying and verifying were intended to undermine and erode public trust in the commission and to the result. In our considered view, these actions amounted to gross misconduct,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal found that Ms Masit had engaged in gross misconduct and a significant violation of the Leadership and Integrity Act. Her actions, according to the tribunal, do not constitute incompetence.
The tribunal ruled that she had a responsibility to hold free and impartial elections devoid of coercion, unlawful influence, or corruption.
“The actions by Commissioner Irene Masit clearly show that she was amenable to improper influence and that she could not be trusted to be an impartial and neutral arbiter. Once again, she was guilty of gross misconduct,” the tribunal found.
The four commissioners were accused of conspiring to rig the presidential election, and they afterward spoke to the media at the Nairobi Serena Hotel to express their disapproval of the results.
The tribunal stated that despite having testified against IEBC in the Supreme Court lawsuit regarding the elections, the four commissioners had engaged in tallying and confirmation of the results.
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