Raila: Suspension of IEBC Commissioners a Plot to Rig 2027 Election

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga has protested President Ruto’s decision to suspend the four embattled IEBC commissioners and the formation of a tribunal to probe their conduct.

In a statement on Friday, Odinga termed the suspension of the officials as dictatorial and a well-calculated plan to influence the 2027 general election in favor of President Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza administration.

“We had made a decision to give the government time to implement its promises to Kenyans in the first 100 days in office. But they are forcing us to speak. They are planning how to influence the outcome of 2027 polls. That is why they are getting rid of the four commissioners,” he said.

“We have said before and we will say it again. The tribulations of the commissioners are not about 2022 elections. This is about 2027 elections.”

The ODM party leader also took issue with the new formula for appointing new IEBC commissioners passed by the National Assembly on Thursday.

“The events in parliament yesterday on the formula of appointing IEBC Commissioners and the hounding of the 4 Commissioners has got nothing to do with integrity, but about 2027. Ruto wants to rig the 2027 election in 2022. We should not allow this to happen,” he added.

Odinga announced that Azimio will launch public consultations with the people of Kenya at the historic Kamkunji grounds in Nairobi on December 7th “to brainstorm on the direction the country is taking.”

“We are witnessing the emergence of a darker form of dictatorship than what we witnessed under Kanu…This is about resisting the capture and emasculation of key institutions that need their independence to stand up for the country when need be,” he said.

“We are here to stop a return to one-man rule, a rule through Executive fiat.”