Why Cherera and Masit Left Kenya After the Elections
Why Cherera and Masit Left Kenya After the Elections
Why Cherera and Masit Left Kenya After the Elections
The National Dialogue Committee has been informed by former IEBC vice chair Juliana Cherera and commissioner Irene Masit that they departed the country over security concerns. Cherera said she felt threatened and was concerned for her kids’ safety.
She continued by saying that she was still apprehensive about disclosing some of the plots behind the polls in 2022 and that this was still not the appropriate forum for her and her colleagues to discuss.”My oldest child is seven years old. Even at school, it wasn’t good. Our social lives actually changed. It was horrible for my family, especially my kids. Because it is not a safe space, there are some things we cannot say on camera, according to Cherera.
“Just because of what we saw and what we know, we have been threatened.” Masit stated that she was worried for her safety because her community believed she was abandoning President William Ruto because they are both from the Rift Valley and both are from that region.
“I’m out of the country for my own security. They claim that because I’m from the Rift Valley, I betrayed the President. I’ve never visited my house, Masit admitted. Masit disclosed that she had received two threats and had once left the country in the middle of the night.
However, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah pressed the former Commissioner for an explanation of her decision not to contact the police. “At night, there was a second threat. I rode a motorcycle to the airport and arrived at the manifest last. Because I was leaving the country, I did not report to the authorities, Masit said.
Cherera, on the other hand, argued that they were ejected from the Commission and noted that she submitted her resignation as a result of the pressure. Cherera argued that the announcement of the election results was made in an unclear way, undermining the credibility of the 2022 elections.She gave examples of times she asked previous IEBC head Wafula Chebukati to stream the tallying of results but he turned her down.In order for Kenyans to see how many results were processed, I requested that the chair update the screens. That was stopped, and the commission did not approve of it, Cherera reaffirmed.
