Kenya Kwanza leaders have suffered a blow in their bid to have legal action taken against cabinet secretaries politicking after IEBC said it has no powers to enforce electoral offences.
Commission chairperson Wafula Chebukati said any misconduct by state officers captured in the Elections Offence Act can only be dealt with by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Chebukati said due to unforeseeable developments, the agency had its powers stripped.
“Election offences used to be under IEBC, but that has changed, it is now in the hands of the DPP,” Chebukati said.
In applying the Act, the chairperson said the agency had back in 2017 formed and chaired a code of conduct committee where such issues were handled.
However, he said, the committee was declared unconstitutional by the High Court.
He called on those with such complaints from any of the parties to forward it to the commission saying they will submit it to the DPP for necessary actions.
“We have filed an appeal against that judgment but at the moment if there is any misconduct arising in the course of campaigns, we are ready to receive and forward it,” Chebukati said.
Among those who have been accused of openly taking sides by campaigning for Raila are Joe Mucheru (ICT), Fred Matiang’i (Interior), Peter Munya (Agriculture), Eugene Wamalwa (Defence) and Mutahi Kagwe (Health).
Particularly taking issue with CS Mucheru, the United Democratic Alliance party wrote a protest letter to the electoral body demanding assurance of a free and fair election.
It was not immediately clear if the party has also written to DPP.
Mucheru was recently captured in a widely circulated clip saying “we are working closely with Baba to ensure the systems and everything is working.”
“In light of the foregoing, we write this protest letter to bring to your attention the remarks by the CS and request that you look into the matter and guarantee free and fair elections,” UDA party secretary general Veronica Maina said.
The party accused them of associating and promoting one particular party despite being state officers who ought to be nonpartisan.
“We have noted a tendency by senior government officials to purport to assume roles intended to influence the conduct and the outcome of the August election, in particular, ICT CS for continuously breaching Section 15 of the Election Offences Act 2016,” Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok said.
Deputy President William Ruto and ANC’s Musalia Mudavadi among other leaders have also criticised the CSs asking them to resign.
Under the Section, a public officer found engaging in the activities of a political party or candidate or acting as an agent of the party or candidate commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding Sh1 million or imprisonment of a term not exceeding three years or both.
It also prohibits particular officers from participating in political campaigns or using public resources to initiate development projects aimed at influencing voters. BY THE STAR