Wafula Chebukati: The man who oversaw Kenya’s most controversial elections

Wafula Chebukati, the late Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), passed away on Friday after a period of ill health, according to his family.

Born on December 22, 1961, in Kiminini, Trans Nzoia County, Chebukati, 63, made significant contributions to Kenya's electoral processes and is mostly remembered for declaring President William Ruto the winner of the 2022 presidential election.

His educational journey began at St. Peter’s Mumias Boys High School and continued at Bokoli Secondary School before he completed his secondary education at Lenana High School in Nairobi.

He then pursued a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi, followed by admission to the Kenya School of Law in 1986. He later earned an MBA from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

Before leading the IEBC, Chebukati contested the Saboti parliamentary seat in 2007 as a candidate for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), but lost to Eugene Wamalwa. Following this defeat, he withdrew from active politics and resigned from ODM, choosing not to pursue future elective positions.

In January 2017, he was appointed IEBC Chair by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta, a role he served in until his retirement on January 17, 2023.

He came close to throwing in the towel barely a year into the job, having to read the riot act against two of the most divisive political figures in 2017.

However, the 2022 presidential election will remain the most important for Chebukati’s career, whose outcome thrust William Ruto to the Presidency.

In Ruto’s eyes, Chebukati was the hero of that election, but to the Raila Odinga-led opposition, he may well be the worst thing that ever happened to Odinga’s political career.

On January 17, 2023, when Chebukati stood before President Ruto to announce the completion of his six-year term, his words carried a deeper meaning. It was more than just a statement; it reflected a man who had overcome numerous obstacles.

From the moment he expressed interest in becoming IEBC Chairperson to the day he finally stepped down, Chebukati had navigated challenges that tested his resilience.

Different accounts indicate he may not have been the best candidate from the interviews, but that didn’t stop President Uhuru Kenyatta from picking him back in January 2017.

A man who had practised law for over three decades now faced the headache of managing a high-stakes general election with less than seven months to plan.

Chebukati came to office during drastic reforms to the management of elections and presidential election results, which were heavily built on the foundation of technology. Seven months later, an election he midwifed was nullified for failing in the test of integrity in the process, becoming the first Presidential election returning officer in Africa to suffer that fate.

The Supreme Court found that the election had been marred with irregularities and illegalities that rendered it unconstitutional.

It was the first major test for Chebukati, who immediately swung into action to establish what had caused the legal gaps. The political pressure was too high, forcing him to push aside his then Chief Executive Officer, Ezra Chiloba, during the repeat presidential election of October 26, 2017.

Even though the election petitioner, Raila Odinga, deserted the repeat election, Chebukati proceeded with the poll, returning a 98% vote for Uhuru Kenyatta.

By this time, Chebukati had lost his most trusted commissioner, Roseline Akombe, who resigned while on transit to the United States, after what was expected to be an official trip to monitor the printing of presidential ballot papers in Dubai. It was then that Chebukati was forced to read the riot act to President Kenyatta and candidate Raila Odinga.

For three years, Chebukati led a half-constituted commission, with his calls for the declaration of vacancies and subsequent recruitment going ignored.

When Parliament eventually amended the IEBC law, paving the way for the recruitment of four new commissioners, Chebukati and his team had already gone to the depth of preparing for the 2022 general election. Commissioners Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Justus Nyang’aya, and Francis Wanderi were sworn in in September 2021, 11 months before the polls.

It is in those months leading up to the election that Chebukati’s leadership style was again put to the test. The four new commissioners would later appear to have formed a camp of newcomers while Chebukati stuck with the two now-veteran commissioners. The end was ugly.

On the afternoon of August 15, 2022, Chebukati led a divided boardroom to the final stretch of the presidential election. What had been expected to be an easy process of declaring the results ended in split decisions, chaos, and haggling at the Bomas of Kenya.

Chebukati’s first attempt to declare the election outcome failed. The second attempt was accompanied by the presence of then-Deputy President William Ruto, the winner of the presidential election.

For the months and years following, August 15 remained the day of reckoning for both Ruto and Chebukati.

It was no surprise that on the day Chebukati, Molu, and Guliye eventually left office, their reflections were trailed on that day.

“If Chebukati were to tell you the kind of hell he went through, if the day the story of August 15 will be told in Kenya, you will know why I am delaying… now I have to balance between, do I sort out the economy, we are almost in the red, or do I swing this big thing that will drain our energies,” said President Ruto on January 4, 2023.

After leaving office, Chebukati spent months presenting conference papers, addressing symposia and seminars globally, and calling for the independence of electoral bodies in the wake of charged political contests and unrelenting state interferences in the outcomes of democratic processes.

He will also be remembered for several unanswered questions, including the killings of electoral officials such as Senior ICT official Chris Msando, who was murdered weeks before the August 2017 election, and Embakasi East Constituency Returning Officer Daniel Musyoka, killed during the August 2022 election.