Chebukati: His elections legacy through the eyes of Kivuitu

I saw him and paused. He had stopped to look for something in the men’s grooming section.

His hands were shaking. He looked frail.

I pushed my trolley towards him. “Good afternoon, Sir, what can I help you pick?”

He turned slowly and looked at me. The man had aged by almost 20 years since I last saw him.

When he finally recognised me, his wrinkled face broke into a weak smile and he pointed towards the shaving cream. I picked it for him. We walked slowly as I helped him fill up his shopping basket. His gait was slow, hesitant and painful.

There was some commotion as shoppers gathered around us. What started as murmurs soon turned into heckling and shouts. Some began hurling insults at him. I turned towards a young lady, the most vocal and rebuked her; “Do you know its an abomination to insult a man your father’s age? Do you know you are calling a curse upon yourself?”

“I don’t care” she shouted, “This idiot stole our election victory and allowed the country to burn. He doesn’t deserve to live”.

I suddenly turned from a shopper to a bodyguard. I helped the elderly man with clearing of payment at the till. We then walked to his car.

That was the last time I saw Samuel Kivuitu, the former Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). 

Life of solitude

After the electoral commission was disbanded, two years after the 2007 disputed presidential elections, Kivuitu recoiled into a life of solitude. He must have sunk into depression. A man who once walked tall and commanded respect from Kenyans and members of the international community, had become a pariah.

Many blamed Kivuitu for the frightening turn that the country’s history took following the declaration of Mwai Kibaki as president-elect in the December 2007 polls. Kibaki took oath of office under the cover of darkness in an event only announced on public broadcaster KBC. Soon after, violence broke out in various parts of the country.

Kibaki had been declared winner in a contest between him and ODM leader Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka. Raila and his supporters accused Kibaki of stealing the vote.

The painful encounter with Kivuitu came flooding back to mind when I watched the frightening drama unfold at the Bomas of Kenya on August 15, 2022. Some people violently attempted to stop Wafula Chebukati, the then chairman of the the electoral body, from declaring William Ruto the victor.

Many had predicted the General Election would spark worse bloodshed than the 2007/2008 post-election violence. Raila was making his fifth attempt at the presidency through the Azimio Coalition. For Deputy President William Ruto running under Kenya Kwanza Coalition, this was his first bid. Raila had one of the most powerful backings ever witnessed in Kenya’s electoral history. He was supported by; President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Kenyatta family, an entire government machinery and security apparatus, and a group of billionaires from Central Kenya.

Frightening year

Something was, however, eating up Chebukati. He was tormented by the debacle of the 2017 elections. The electoral commission had been censored by the Supreme Court after Raila challenged the declaration of Uhuru as president-elect. The court ordered a new vote within 60 days.  

The year 2017 was frightening. There were many deaths related to election campaigns. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said 92 people were killed by police and civilians in the aftermath of the August and October 2017 elections. The rights group said 26 were killed after the October repeat election, 20 by unknown people and six by the police

Five days to the polls, the commission’s acting director of information communication technologies Chris Musando was abducted, tortured and murdered. The style of torture indicated that his killers were keen on extracting key information from him. 

A few days before, Musando appeared on a live television to demonstrate the Integrated Election Management System electronic vote counting system. Musando was among the few people with the login information and knowledge of physical location of servers that ran the highly digitized election.

Come 2022, and the intimidation continued. Ethnic profiling intensified. In some parts of the country, commission staff and service providers were arbitrarily attacked and assaulted by hooligans and law enforcement agencies.

On August 11, 2022, the IEBC Returning Officer for Embakasi East Daniel Musyoka disappeared from his station. His body was recovered in the Amboseli National Park on August 15. He was naked. Shivers ran down the spine of Chebukati and his team.

“We know that there was a direct attempt to abduct Wafula Chebukati and murder him so that the commission would be paralyzed, or a compliant commissioner take over and subvert the people’s sovereignty” claimed President William Ruto after assuming office.

If Kenyan politicians thought they would intimidate and control Chebukati, then they were in for a rude shock. Some who knew Chebukati claim he was a stickler for the law.

“Chebukati could be uncompromising and unforgiving. When differences arose between him and the then CEO Ezra Chiloba, one would have thought he would look for an amicable solution because the protraction was hurting the commission he led. Some even thought that since they came from the same community he would not have liked to be seen as fighting his younger brother. But there were no negotiations, no informal gestures or undertones - everything was traded on Conqueror Paper,” claims Andrew Limo, former communications and public affairs manager at the IEBC.

Limo says that as long the law was followed, Chebukati didn’t care about perceptions.

In 2017, some commissioners resigned from IEBC in a haste. They returned one morning pleading with Chebukati to hear them out since they were still interested in staying on. He refused to meet them saying there was no room for those who had abandoned the Commission.

“We never got to know what commissioners Kurgat, Mwachanya, and Nkatha Maina, wanted. I remember pleading with him to give them some hearing, more so because I knew they had resigned in a haste and had not cleared formally with the commission. He asked me, “Limo, why do you want me to meet bad people? Tell them to put in writing the agenda of the meeting they want with me”. Chebukati felt that they had abandoned him at a critical time.

Witty Chebukati

Limo says that unknown to many, Chebukati also has great sense of humour, which he used to deffuse tension especially at the start of meetings. “I think he needed it because most engagements at the commission were tense because of the polarizing nature of elections. He would also humanise his position by cracking a joke or two on what people said about him.” Limo says that the nullification of the 2017 presidential poll and the killing of Musando were low moments for Chebukati and the commission.

Chebukati became the second man, after Zacchaeus Chesoni to have successfully managed two General Elections. Chesoni managed the 1992 and 1997 polls. Chebukati, a man described by his staff as being very formal, was added a lifeline by the handshake that brought Uhuru and Raila together. Serendipity and not survival enabled him stay long enough to manage two elections.

During his last speech to the world as IEBC chairman, on January 16, 2023, Chebukati said he discharged his duties faithfully and impartially. He admitted the IEBC was constantly under pressure.

Political anatomy

Pundits say that in 2022, Chebukati disarmed many when the IEBC transmitted only the image of the election results form 34A using the Results Transmission System from the polling station to the National and Constituency Tallying Centre as well as the public portal. The commission also deployed a public portal where election results form 34A, 34B and 34C were hosted for the nation and the world to access

Kenyan elections are extremely competitive and highly ethicised. It creates a poisonous atmosphere that exposes the IEBC staff to risks of physical harm and even death. Some IEBC staff get profiled during campaigns and public rallies. They become susceptible to attacks and even murder.

“It is time the nation had a candid discussion on the electoral system that the country should adopt to suit the circumstances of our country’s political anatomy” said Chebukati

While a section of Kenyans wants to throw up at the mention of Chebukati’s name, another section adores him and embraces him as a hero. President Ruto publicly lauded him. Kivuitu was quickly abandoned by the political class that put him in a mess. He was betrayed and abandoned. He carried the cross of politicians to his grave. The death of Chebukati, who lived away from the limelight since his retirement, revealed that many Raila’s supporters have never forgiven him.