Sabina Chege fails to appear before IEBC committee

Murang’a Woman Representative Sabina Chege has skipped the IEBC Electoral Code of Conduct enforcement committee hearing, after being taken ill.

Her lawyers have told the committee that Chege was admitted at the Nairobi Hospital on February 16, 2022, a day after she first appeared before IEBC to answer to poll-rigging remarks.

“The respondent is not in attendance today as she is indisposed and has been admitted to Nairobi Hospital,” Senior Counsel Otiende Amollo said.

The agency’s Chair Wafula Chebukati has since directed that the matter proceeds to a full hearing on March 8, 2022, at 9 am.

Chebukati further directed that Chege desists from commenting on the case in public forums.

“To avoid prejudices, the respondent is directed to refrain or comment on the case in public forums either through self or counsel,” he stated.

Chege, who was summoned to appear before the Committee over her election-rigging utterances, had moved to court to block the hearing.

She claimed the commission did not have relevant material as required by the law, and that it had a predetermined verdict to block her from participating in the August 9 election should she decide to vie.

“The respondent has framed a complaint incapable of eliciting a response from the applicant, seeing as it does not mention any of the elements listed in clause 6(a) of the Electoral Code of Conduct, a violation of Article 50 of Constitution, which makes it mandatory that a charge contains sufficient particulars to enable an accused respond to the same,” court papers read.

Chege appeared before the committee last week over utterances made by herself in Vihiga County, suggesting that Jubilee rigged the 2017 poll result.

But, Chebukati submitted that the politician was wrong in her utterances, saying, all persons bound by the Code of Conduct should re-assure voters of impartiality of the commission and secrecy of the ballot.