Wafula Chebukati, police under fire for airport arrest over election materials

**Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati during an interview at his Anniversary office, Nairobi on Wednesday.** [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Questions swirled around the electoral commission yesterday as the police released from custody a foreigner arrested on Thursday and detained on suspicion of entering the country in possession of 2022 election stickers.

Police yesterday released a Venezuelan national they detained on Thursday after as he flew into the country two dozens of election stickers hidden in his personal bag. While releasing the suspect, the police still insisted that the manner in which the cargo arrived in the country was improper as the stickers were neither declared as required by law nor accompanied by an official from the commission as is the routine procedure.

Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai, who addressed a press brief in Nairobi, said the arrest of the three was prompted by immigration officials who noted the presence of the IEBC labeled material among the luggage held by the travellers. This prompted airport officials to inform the police who whisked the three into custody for investigations.

On Thursday night, ATPU investigators were called into the investigations alongside other members of the JKIA multi-agency security team. Sources within the anti-terror team said it was only after IEBC legal department confirmed to the police that the stickers belonged to them that the police cleared the suspects.

The police released the culprit on the intervention of the IEBC boss Wafula Chebukati who, in a statement issued on the same night, revealed that three individuals had been arrested and that they are employees of Smartmatic, a Dutch company that was awarded the tender to supply and manage the technology infrastructure that will be deployed for the August 2022 poll.

“The three are in the country to execute a lawful contract relating to the deployment of technology in elections,” said Chebukati, adding that the continued incarceration of the trio has the inevitable effect of hampering deployment of the technology.

“Technology plays a central role in elections and the commission wonders what the intention behind the holding of the technical personnel is meant to achieve.”

The foreigner, identified as Comarco Gregoria, a Venezuelan citizen, was arrested upon his arrival in the country after he was found in possession of more than one and half dozen rolls of election stickers meant for the 2022 election. The stickers are meant to assist the commission label and distribution of election materials to various constituencies across the country. The saga surrounding the arrest and subsequent release of the foreigner has only amplified fears that have been expressed concerning the commission’s level of preparedness insofar as the 2022 elections go.

Wiper Democratic Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka said the arrest of Venezuela nationals in possession of IEBC materials is a red flag over a possible election rigging plan. He said if such materials can be available in an individual’s custody, it shows there is possibility of rogue people to set up parallel polling stations in disguise to be IEBC legit officers and in turn rig votes.

Kalonzo said IEBC has a responsibility to deliver credible elections in the August polls and challenged the commission not take chances or compromise the outcome of the election.

“Although we have full confidence with the election body leadership, we are very keen on what’s happening and we will not give room of rigging during the coming election. We are urging IEBC Chairman Chebukati to at least deliver a credible election for once,” said Kalonzo.

At the same time Information Communication and Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said the arrest of the Venezuelan with IEBC materials as “private cargo” raised some pertinent questions. But IEBC commissioner Francis Wanderi insisted that those who were detained were not IEBC staff, but of Smartmatic, the company that is deploying the technology to be used in the August poll.

“Two of them have been here for the last three months working and the other was coming with stickers to be used on the Kenya Elections Electoral Management Systems (Kiems) kits for purposes of identifying and tracing of the devices,” said Wanderi during a media summit on election preparedness organised by Media Council of Kenya and Katiba Institute held in Nairobi.

“There is nothing fishy in their presence here. These are technical people who are coming here for the purposes of deploying technology. Their embassy knows they are here and will relay the same to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry. We must facilitate their activities because they are coming to work for the commission and for this election.”

Sinister motive?

William Samoei Ruto presidential secretariat rushed to defend Mr Chebukati in the matter while accusing the State of sinister motive in the arrest of the foreigners. According to the secretariat the State is out to interfere with the deployment of technology system for the election.

“They want to invade election technology and compromise its integrity for the benefit of Azimio project,” the Secretariat said in a statement, making reference to Mr Odinga’s oft insistence that the digital voters’ roll must be backed up with a manual roll.

The team further called for the protection of electoral officials at all levels, including service providers as well as their equipment and materials As IEBC robustly defended the foreigner, it has not responded to the many questions that have been raised on the circumstances leading to the arrest, even as some accounts suggest that the foreigner’s arrival got the commission totally unawares.

Ordinarily, the arrival of such elections material should be coordinated by the Commission’s secretariat through the directorate of voter registration and electoral operations which is headed by Mr Martin Sunkuli. But a source privy to the goings on at the commission has told The Saturday Standard that the directorate was unaware and the arrival of the cargo caught its top brass in total surprise.

“The bosses who should have received the materials were in the office and appeared not to know what was happening,” a source at the IEBC told The Saturday Standard yesterday.

“Just like everyone else, they were reading the whole saga from social media. It is a question of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.”

When the news of the arrest first filtered through on Thursday, the commission, through its twitter handle, was quick to dismiss the reports, terming them fake news. Yet, the conduct of the commission has done little to instill confidence in the electoral process, creating an impression they are not revealing all.

Despite rushing to defend the foreigners, the commission is yet to explain circumstances under which election materials were ferried in somebody personal bag and the absence of his officers at the airport to facilitate safe passage of the cargo.

When the news of the arrest of the foreigner first filtered through on Thursday, the commission feigned ignorance, terming them as fake news, only making reference of the stickers.

“The correct position is that today (Thursday) morning the commission received stickers to aid in labeling and distribution of election materials. JKIA security agencies in their normal procedure were trying to validate the stickers with the commission,” the commission tweeted.

But later Thursday night, when the foreigner had been detained, Mr Chebukati changed tune, assailing the security agencies for harassing the foreigner, who he claimed is an IEBC technology personnel. In the statement, he made no reference to the stickers but instead introduced a new angle claiming that those who had been arrested are employees of Smartmatic responsible for the deployment of the election technology.

Turf wars

On other hand, the police insisted it had detained the foreigner because the stickers were carried in the personal luggage of a foreigner who was not accompanied by an IEBC official, despite the sensitivity of the matter.

Sources within the National Police Service who spoke to The Saturday Standard said security chiefs have had issues with the IEBC for sidelining them while making their plans for the elections.

While some senior officers from NPS had been seconded to IEBC to help with planning for the elections, they (police) were not involved in some areas where their input is required. The source cite one instance on July 7 when the IEBC top brass received the first batch of ballot papers for the August polls.

According to the source, National Police officials who were seconded to IEBC only learnt of the arrival of elections materials from the media.

“We didn’t know about that key event until we saw on TV and we sent GSU officers to accompany the material” said the official who requested for anonymity.

Additional reporting Kamore Maina, James Wanzala and Peterson Githaiga