AGEYO’S ANGLE: The big log in IEBC’s eye

This week the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) staged a televised disciplinary hearing for Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Chege over remarks she made a few days earlier in Vihiga County.

The Murang’a legislator is accused of allegedly suggesting that the election in 2017 was rigged and that the 2022 polls may also be tampered with. Of course, the matter is now with the IEBC and whether the MP is guilty or not, will be the commission’s decision to make.

I am however gratified and intrigued at the same time by this latest enthusiasm emanating from the electoral body. I am gratified because the commission has for the first time in a long time – or perhaps ever – moved with speed to remind politicians that there is a referee in this game. I am also gratified because this matter is playing out in the full glare of cameras and that the verdict will be the product of a very public hearing. And I hope this is only the beginning of many such sessions.

But I am intrigued by the sudden burst of energy at the Anniversary towers. Has the commission only just realised it has these immense powers to summon the high and mighty of our politics? Where has it been all this while since the politicians started making all manner of wild and sometimes extremely reckless statements on the campaign trail? In fact, how is it that the commission has never reprimanded the politicians for what are cleary premature campaigns?

You see, according to the electoral calendar released by the IEBC itself, the official campaign period is scheduled to begin on May 29th, or simply put a whole three months from now. Which means that right now we should all be enjoying peace and quiet across the nation. Of course, that is hilarious because, I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember when the campaigns really every stopped from the last general election. The political noise – I dare call it that – has been grating at our ears for nearly four years now. What is IEBC to tell us about that?

Put differently, what is this thing called official campaign period and what is this that is going on now? If this is not official yet, what will happen from May 29th? The politicians coming to our living rooms perhaps? Or maybe the bribes they give to voters will get bigger or the insults more obscene? Will they increase the number of choppers or get more bodabodas in their convoys? Maybe, but it would appear the IEBC only has powers to summon politicians when they talk about rigging.

That is why I hope they will also be giving the country a chance to hear from ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi who alleged the other day that he got wind of an elaborate plan to steal the election just before he moved to Kenya Kwanza. He recounted how a powerful official in government allegedly told one of the OKA leaders that the election would be stolen in their favour if they joined the Azimio la Umoja coalition. I bring this up because rigging and claims of rigging are not to be taken lightly in this country. No one needs reminding how in 2007/2008 this nation came so close to an implosion on the back of a disputed presidential election result.

In 2017, the country was forced back to the ballot after the presidential election results were nullified by the Supreme Court, citing what it called various illegalities and irregularities. The IEBC should therefore take every word uttered about any possible rigging of elections with utmost seriousness. But the electoral body must go beyond that.

You see in the Bible, Jesus asks an intriguing question in the book of Matthew Chapter 7 verse three. He asks and I quote: Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? In English, that question sounds like this: “why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

You see, the IEBC can summon and grill all the politicians it wants, it can breathe fire and brimstone at the slightest noise from the campaign trail. But that will not be enough. First, it must apply the rules without fear and without favour. Secondly, and more importantly the IEBC must now do a self-reflection and assure the country that all is truly well on the road to August 9th. The IEBC must tell us in no uncertain terms that the mess of 2017 is now behind and that the election will be free and fair, regardless of what the politicians will say or do. That will be the greater duty to the nation. And to paraphrase the great TS Eliot, that is the only way they will end this with a bang and not a whimper.