Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei has challenged Azimio leaders who claim that the 2022 August elections were unfair to resign and stop the pretense in their opinions.

 

Speaking on a local television on Monday, Shollei stated that leaders allied to Azimio-OKA alliance are accusing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for allegedly rigging the presidential election results yet they enjoy the positions they hold which they were elected through the same commission.

Shollei, therefore, noted that if indeed the leaders think that IEBC did not run a fair election they should also resign and stand for what they believe in and cease from doublespeak.

“When they say that they feel the elections were botched and the current commission didn’t do a good job, these are elected in an election run by the same commission,” she said addressing Senators Dan Maanzo (Makueni) and Richard Onyonka (Kisii) who appeared in the same show.

“So they should first resign their positions because they must stand with what they believe that these elections were not properly run. But they are enjoying the fruits of the election run by the same commission. That is double speak and double standards.”

Shollei, who doubles as the Uasin Gishu Woman representative, was responding to Senator Onyonka’s claims that the electoral commission will always be compromised if the majority of members of the house select their preferred persons to the commission.

Onyonka further claimed that the same trajectory is what caused the alleged August 2022 electoral tussles between the government and the opposition.

“You know the challenges IEBC has had in terms of having verifiable elections that are within the law. And if you look at the way the August election was run it is clear that this nation is split in the middle,” he said.

“Please tell your people, the fact that you are going to nominate commissioners who will be in the commission, disregarding what the other side feels, will definitely affect the way this country is governed.”

Shollei, in her rebuttal, maintained that the selection process is in accordance with law provisions and that is what the National Assembly will apply.

Article 250 of the Constitution says that the chairperson and each member of a commission shall be identified and recommended for appointment in a manner prescribed by national legislation, approved by the National Assembly and appointed by the President.

 

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