Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera resigned on Monday, just a few days before a date set with the nine member tribunal appointed to probe her conduct alongside the three other commissioners over events of the August 9th elections.
Cherera, in her resignation letter dated December 5th said that her stay at the commission was no longer tenable after efforts to deal with government matters had failed.
“It is with intense woe that today I tender my resignation as commissioner and vice chairperson of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, “part of the letter read.
In her letter Cherera said that she had done her duties diligently and had helped IEBC in dealing with the corporate governance issues during the period that she served in the commission.
“Since joining the commission, I have dispensed my duties diligently and meticulously and put up a spirited effort in helping the commission deal with corporate governance issues under very difficult circumstances. As a Vice Chair, I always advocated for fair treatment and equal opportunity to all staff.”
“However, my cumulative actions done in good faith are unfortunately misjudged and misinterpreted. After careful consideration and in consultation with my family and lawyers, I accept that my stay at the commission is no longer tenable and therefore choose to vacate,” she added.
Cherera is the second commissioner to resign after Justus Nyang’aya resigned on Friday, December 2nd, 2022. The tribunal has now been left to probe Masit and Wanderi.
The Head of State, via a gazette notice on Friday suspended the four commissioners and appointed a nine-member tribunal after the National Assembly adopted a report of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that recommended that the President should form a tribunal that would investigate the matter.
President Ruto suspended commissioners Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, Irene Masit and Francis Wanderi pending investigations by the tribunal that is to be chaired by Justus Aggrey Muchelule.
The four commissioners were accused of gross misconduct over their decision to dispute the presidential results that were used to declare Ruto as the Kenya’s fifth President.
They rejected the results and purportedly accused the IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati of altering the results.
Before Cherera’s appointment as IEBC Chairperson by the former President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 2, 2021, she served as Chief Executive in the Strategic Delivery Unit of the Mombasa County Government.
BY STACY ODHIAMBO