Raila to hold public forums to oppose ouster of 4 IEBC commissioners

Azimio La Umoja leader Raila Odinga has announced that he will hold public rallies to engage Kenyans on the ongoing probe of four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners by Parliament.

The four; Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya are being grilled after a petition was filed challenging their suitability to hold office, following their disowning of the August 9 Election presidential results.

Speaking at a Kisumu hotel on Sunday, the former prime minister accused President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration of what he called imposing a "user-friendly" IEBC to Kenyans.

"This regime is trying to send home the commissioners who stood firm on the platform of the truth and this is not acceptable. The people of Kenya are not going to accept it. These people stole the elections and we cannot accept that on top of that, they send away these other commissioners and impose on Kenyans a user-friendly commission to them," Odinga told supporters.

He announced a plan to traverse the country starting this week to engage Kenyans on the fate of the four commissioners.

According to the Azimio chief, the first forum will be held on Wednesday at the Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi.

"We are going to consult widely with the people of Kenya, beginning Wednesday in Nairobi. We will have a meeting with the people at Kamukunji Grounds to ask them if they accept that these commissioners should go home," he said.

"We will then do the same thing in Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu and Kakamega because an independent electoral commission is the referee and cannot be appointed by a player," Odinga added.

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