Four Kenyan Electoral Commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, (IEBC) have given reasons for their distancing from the Presidential results announced by the Commission Chairperson, Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
The differing commissioners, Mr. Francis Wanderi, Justus Abanyo, Irene Masit led by the vice chairperson Juliana W Cherera insist on not taking ownership of the results of August 15, 2022 presidential election declared and announced by Mr. Chebukati.
According to the statement, Ms. Juliana W Cherera said they declined to take ownership of the said results because the aggregation resulted in a total exceeding the 100 percentage which cast doubt on the accuracy of the source of the figures tallied.
“The aggregation of the percentage of the results scored by the four presidential candidates who were on the ballot as declared by Mr. Chebukati presented to us a mathematical absurdity that defies logic,” Cherera said.
Mr. Chebukati announced the following aggregation, Raila Odinga (48.85%), Willian Ruto (50.49%), Waihiga Mwaure (0.23%), and Wajackoyah George (0.44%) which totals to 100.01%.
She added that when they demanded to verify their record, Mr. Chebukati declined, and overruled them and insisted on declaring the said figures.
”When we demanded that we verify our record, Mr. Chebukati declined, overruled us and insisted on declaring and announcing the said figures,” the commission vice chairperson said.
Cherera said the 0.1% translates to approximately 142,000 votes, which would make a significant difference in the final results.
She also indicated that the results declared did not indicate the total number of registered voters, the total number of votes cast or the number of rejected votes hence its opaque nature.
“The results announced by Mr. Chebukati lack a critical ingredient namely the total number of valid votes cast to support the percentages scored by the four candidates,” Cherera added.
Cherera continued to question Chebukati declaration that Raila Odinga attained 25% of votes in 34 counties while William Ruto attained 25% in 39 counties.
“Which figures in the 34 and 39 counties respectively constituted the independent variables to warrant Mr. Chebukati’s conclusion of the 25% in 34 counties and 25% in 39 counties for Raila and Ruto respectively?” she asked.
She further blamed the Commission chairperson for conducting the Election as though he was the National Returning Officer, stating that no such position exist.
The four commissioners also added that by the time Mr. Chebukati declared and announced final results, results from certain constituencies had not been announced.
