Wafula Chebukati's life and career from law, politics to the helm of IEBC

The late Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, passed away on Thursday evening.

Chebukati will be remembered for declaring President William Ruto the winner of the 2022 knife-edge presidential election contest that later resulted in the fallout within the Commission.

Chebukati declared Ruto had won 50.49 per cent of the vote, against Azimio's Raila Odinga's 48.5 percent.

He was born on December 22, 1961, in Kiminini, Trans Nzoia County.

He attended St. Peter’s Mumias Boys High School, followed by Bokoli Secondary School, and later completed his secondary education at The Lenana High School in Nairobi.

Chebukati pursued higher education at the University of Nairobi, where he earned a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree in 1985. He then attended the Kenya School of Law and was admitted to the roll of advocates in 1986.

Later, he proceeded to attain a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

Before taking the helm at the IEBC, Chebukati contested the Saboti parliamentary seat in Trans Nzoia County under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, led by Raila Odinga, in 2007.

He lost to Eugene Wamalwa of the Party of National Unity (PNU) and subsequently distanced himself from active politics, resigning his ODM membership and declaring no future interest in elective positions.

Chebukati was appointed to the position on a six-year tenure in January 2017 by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He succeeded Ahmed Isaack Hassan and retired on January 17, 2023, following the end of his term.

Assassination claims

In January 2023, President Ruto sensationally, without providing any evidence, revealed an apparent plot to kidnap and murder Chebukati at the height of the 2022 election to overthrow the popular will of Kenyan voters.

The president, who had hosted members of independent commissions, including the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), said unnamed individuals wanted Chebukati out of the way so that the Cherera faction could take over.

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He said the faction had instructions to support his then arch-rival, Azimio leader Raila Odinga. Ruto said the plan to subvert the will of the people was hatched by senior politicians way before the August 9, 2022 presidential election and it started with what he described as skewed hiring of four commissioners who attempted to stonewall Chebukati’s declaration.

The plot, according to the Head of State, involved infiltrating the commission by planting the four breakaway commissioners, using blackmail, threats, abductions, extortion and intimidation of various IEBC officials, to have a preferred candidate declared the winner.

Ruto said the plotters had calculated to eliminate Chebukati if he resisted bribery and intimidation, which could have incapacitated the commission and potentially rendered the outcome of the election a nullity.

We commend the @IEBCKenya for their noble achievement — at tremendous and regrettable cost — to serve the people of Kenya by ensuring that their sovereign will is upheld. There is no doubt that the hero of this election is Wafula Chebukati and the IEBC. pic.twitter.com/pA9rA3IRyi

— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) September 5, 2022

Other than vesting powers to declare the outcome of a presidential election in the Chairperson of IEBC, the law requires that election results be declared within seven days of voting.

"We know that there was a direct attempt to abduct Wafula Chebukati and murder him so that the commission would be paralysed, or a compliant commission would take over and subvert the people’s sovereignty,” President Ruto stated.

Ruto, in the meeting, commended the conduct of the IEBC during the 2022 General Election, specifically Chebukati, CEO Hussein Marjan and commissioners Moya Bolu and Abdi Guliye.

The head of state lauded them for remaining firm and resisting blackmail and threats to deliver credible elections.

He said the minority of the commissioners and the staff of the commission made personal sacrifices and underwent extremely harrowing conditions, including threats of dire consequences to them and their families.

Regrettably, the president noted that some IEBC officers were murdered in the course of duty by some actors who wanted to compromise the elections.

“We now know that Chairman Wafula Chebukati, commissioners Abdi Yakub Guliye and Boya Molu as well as the CEO, Hussein Marjan, and their staff, were offered stupendous financial rewards to cooperate with the agents of impunity, but they bravely resisted,” he said.

In 2023, President Ruto awarded Chebukati the Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart (EGH), Kenya’s second-highest civilian honour, for his service.

Following his retirement in January 2023, Chebukati largely avoided public attention due to reports of his deteriorating health until his death on Thursday.