National Assembly deputy speaker Gladys Boss Shollei has downplayed President William Ruto’s recent tweets concerning the ongoing investigations on four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners by Parliament.
The four IEBC Commissioners including Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya are being grilled after a petition was filed challenging their suitability to hold office, after they distanced themselves from the August 9 Election presidential results.
Moreover, the president on November 25 referred to the four IEBC commissioners as “rogue officials” and shut down concerns by Raila Odinga to let the four be.
“The lords of impunity, who destroyed oversight institutions using the handshake fraud, should allow parliament to hold rogue officials who put the nation in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people to be held to account. New order is rule of law not wishes of big men,” said President Ruto.
The opposition leader had earlier labelled Ruto a dictator for inflicting injustice on the four commissioners.
Nonetheless, the president’s remarks drew criticism from a section of Kenyans who said his comments suggested that he has already made a decision about the four commissioners.
While speaking on Monday, November 28 during an interview on Citizen TV, Shollei stated that the president is not a member of the National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC). Hence, his tweets do not hold any significance in the ongoing petition hearing.
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“The president is speaking but what we will go by is what the committee will decide. The president is not a member of the JLAC, neither is he a petitioner in the matter nor is he coming to give evidence,” she noted.
Shollei further added that what matters is that the rule of law is followed to determine the fate of the commissioners.
“Have we followed what the constitution says? Yes, we have. The committee is not going to use the president’s statements on Twitter as evidence in their report,” she said.
The National Assembly deputy speaker’s remarks come just a day after Odinga announced that he will hold public rallies to engage Kenyans on the fate of the four commissioners, starting Wednesday in Nairobi.
According to Shollei, the opposition leader should instead send lawyers to the committee.
“If I petitioned against the disbanding of harmful pesticides, imagine if Raila held rallies to stop my petition. The Parliament is supposed to hear it and make a decision. This is being made to look like it is the only petition that has come to parliament.” She added.
The committee which commenced the exercise Thursday, November 24 is expected to listen to the petition for four days before retreating to make a decision on the fate of the four commissioners.
