Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale has now come out to apportion blame over the appointment of Wafula Chebukati as Chairman of the IEBC.
Duale claimed that the problem at the electoral commission were caused by religious leaders who were given the mandate of picking a new team to replace the previous group led by Issack Hassan.
“The mistake we made was when we diverted from the legal framework put in place after new constitution on the process of constituting a new IEBC commission."
playBernadette Musundi (right). She chaired the Selection Panel for the Appointment of Commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Nation)
"The country went out and let the religious leaders to constitute a commission, in my honest opinion, that is where we made a mistake and got the worst product, Chebukati and his team. Chebukati was fronted by religious leaders and a number of us were against it," Duale stated.
Those who served in the selection panel are National Council of Churches of Kenya General Secretary Rev Canon Peter Karanja, the chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims, Prof Abdulghafur El-Busaidy.
Catholic bishops have picked Transparency International’s board member and former Home Affairs Permanent Secretary, Bernadette Musundi.
Bishop David Oginde, who had prayed for President Kenyatta and his deputy after the 2013 elections, represented the Evangelical Churches of Kenya. Ravindra Bhurma acted for the Hindu Council of Kenya.
For the position of Chairperson, the selection panel has submitted two names to President Uhuru Kenyatta - Chebukati and Tukero ole Kina.
Interestingly, President Kenyatta picked Chebukati even though he had received a considerably low score of 63 percent, compared to the other nominee who got 79 percent.
