Recently, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga put aside their plans that would see the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chair Wafula Chebukati and his team ousted out of office prior to the 2022 general elections.
A number of allies of Raila Odinga such as the Homa Baty woman Rep Gladys Wanga and the Homabay town member of parliament Opondo Kaluma had stated that they have zero trust in the Chebukati led body.
These sentiments were further reiterated by the Ugunja member of parliament Opiyo Wandayi who told the IEBC to hold on all the activities related to the 2022 general elections until the new commissioners were sworn into office.
The four new commissioners were Irine Masit, Justus Abonyo, Juliana Cherera and Francis Mathenge who have so far taken over the office.
However, the party recently shocked the nation when they made a big U-turn with the ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna making it clear that they were no longer interested in pushing for changes at the IEBC.
Instead, the ODM party only urged the electoral body to ensure that they take Kenya through a free, fair and credible general election.
However, Sonko News has learnt that the Luhya factor played a big role which made Raila Odinga and ODM give up their push to oust the Chebukati led commission.
According to Citizen Weekly, the ODM move to remove Chebukati was not being perceived well amongst the Luhya electorates and the opposition party was doomed to lose many votes in the region because of the “our son is being targeted” tag.
Apparently, sources have further revealed that Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugine Wamalwa played a central role in ensuring that Raila drops their plan to do away with Chebukati. Both CS Wamalwa and the IECB chair Mr. Wafula hail from the Trans Nzoia county.
The devolution cabinet secretary chipped in after intelligence revealed that deputy president William Ruto was planning to maximize on Chebukati’s fate to counter Raila Odinga together with the ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi after their secret meeting accompanied by senator Malala.
That this issue was going to be used to decampaign Raila in Western region made him and his team to change tact because they were not even sure if Chebukati’s removal had the blessings of president Uhuru Kenyatta.
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