Wafula Wa Chebukati, who passed on today, was once a staunch member of ODM party and even vied for a parliamentary seat on the party’s ticket before he left the party in 2017.
I could describe him as the proverbial cat with nine lives. Although in public, he appeared timid , behind closed doors, he was a very firm person. This saw him withstand pressure within and outside the commission.
Perhaps his demeanour misled UhuRuto to appoint him as IEBC chairman in 2016, even after he was ranked second with many points behind Tukero ole Kina of Muli & ole Kina Advocates .
The selection panel had ranked Tukero first with 79% and Chebukati a distant second with 63%. However UhuRuto settled on Chebukati maybe because they saw him as amenable.
As IEBC chair, Chebukati survived all efforts to oust him. In 2017, just a year after his appointment, many believed he would resign due to the growing political pressure, but he stayed on.
Later, in 2018, some commissioners led by vice chair Connie Nkatha Maina ganged up against him and resigned. The aim was to incapacitate the commission and trigger Chebukati’s ouster. But he stayed on and continued to steer the commission as if nothing had happened.
Realising that their plan had failed, the embarrassed Commissioners tried to sneak back to their offices, but they found Chebukati had already changed the locks. Not even the government could save them.
In 2021, there was another plan by some parliamentarians to have him kicked out as IEBC chairman, but nothing came out of it.
Perhaps 2022 was the most tumultuous period for Chebukati as IEBC chair. After the defeat of Raila because of poor mobilisation in his strongholds, there was a concerted effort to have Chebukati alter the results.
High ranking state officials used threats and even tried to instigate a crisis within the commission to have Chebukati isolated, but he stood his ground. A weak chair could have easily surrendered to the threats and pocketed the mouth watering offers that were being used to induce him to alter the results. May he rest in peace.
