Election Chair Was Targeted During Kenya's 2022 Polls - Ruto

Kenya's President William Ruto has said that there was a plot to murder the country's top electoral official in August 2022 to prevent him from announcing Ruto as the winner of the presidential election.

Ruto made the allegation at the State House Tuesday, January 17, 2023 as he met with outgoing commissioners of Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, including outgoing chairman Wafula Chebukati.

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 the skewed hiring of four commissioners who attempted to stonewall Chebukati's declaration.

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

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

In August 2022, Chebukati declared Ruto as the winner of Kenya's presidential election, which Ruto won by a narrow margin over his main challenger Raila Odinga.