President Ruto, Raila in Twitter war of words over 'Cherera Four'

President William Ruto and Azimio la Umoja chief Raila Odinga on Friday engaged in an online war of words over the fate of the four IEBC commissioners who are currently being probed by Parliament over their suitability to hold office.

This comes after Raila fired the first shot on Thursday by alleging that the head-of-state is a dictator for inflicting injustice on the four commissioners; Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya.

Raila went as far as saying that the current regime reminded him of former President Daniel Moi's time in office which was notably marred by instances of tyranny.

In a tweet, the president however turned the tables on Raila by slamming the former premiere's 2018 handshake with ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta noting that the deal was a clear form of state capture.

"The lords of impunity, who destroyed oversight institutions using the handshake fraud, should allow parliament to hold rogue officials who put the nation in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people to be held to account. New order is RULE of LAW not wishes of big men," said President Ruto.

In a rejoinder, the opposition boss reiterated his Thursday stance on Ruto's rule noting that the Executive should not interfere with the affairs of the Judiciary.

"There is due process and natural justice, things aren't just done at the whims of the executive. The rule of law must prevail and not your jungle laws that you want to institute so as to subjugate Kenyans to a conveyor belt system of elections come 2027. We shall not relent," said Raila.

The National Assembly's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee began hearing the petitions filed against the four commissioners on Thursday.

The committee is expected to listen to the petition for four days before retreating to make a decision on the quartet’s fate. 

The petitioners want the commissioners removed from office for constitutional violations, as well as gross misconduct and incompetence.