IEBC commissioner nominee Hassan Noor: I was a solution during 2007/2008 crisis, not the problem

IEBC commissioner nominee Hassan Noor Hassan has defended his integrity and performance as a public servant, saying he was a key part of the response team that helped restore order during the 2007 post-election violence in Rift Valley.

Appearing before the National Assembly's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on Saturday, Hassan also addressed questions about his role in past elections, saying his position as a young officer in 1988 had no impact on the outcome.

“I was a very young officer. I was barely two years old in service. I was inconsequential as far as the 1988 election is concerned,” Hassan said.

During the 2007 crisis, Hassan was the Provincial Commissioner for Rift Valley.

He said the region was already tense when he took up the role.

“There has been a lot of conflict within the region, in Molo, in Turkana, in Samburu, in Trans Nzoia. We managed to bring the conflict down before the elections,” the nominee told the committee.

Hassan said his efforts were officially recognised.

“I was awarded the best public officer of the year in 2007. I got the Kenya National Human Rights Commission award as the best public servant of the year in the way we managed conflict in the province at that time,” he said.

He said violence erupted despite their efforts, but blamed it on incitement and political statements. “There have been incitement, there are inflammatory statements by leaders. So it happened,” Hassan said.

The nominee credited his team’s response during the crisis and said they earned praise from the late Kofi Annan.

“If there is one committee that has served this country at the height of the post-election violence, and will require to be recognised, it is the committee led by the Provincial Commissioner of Rift Valley,” he quoted Annan.

“I was a solution. I provided a solution required to make sure that we minimised the loss of lives and property during the post-election violence,” Hassan added.

He said he also led a programme to return displaced people to their homes.

“I coined operation Rudi Nyumbani. That was my slogan. Within 90 days, we were able to return over 70 per cent of the population back to their farms,” Hassan concluded.

Hassan said he was wrongly linked to corruption at the National Youth Service but was cleared.

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“NYS investigations were done, people were taken to court, being one of them, but we were acquitted for lack of evidence. I was not convicted, I was acquitted of the charges in 2018,” he told the committee.