President William Ruto, Raila Odinga in fierce exchange on Twitter over Juliana Cherera removal bid

President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga are sparring with each other over a plot to remove four IEBC commissioners. [File]

President William Ruto and Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga on Friday morning engaged in a salvo of new attacks over the plot to kick out four IEBC commissioners.

President Ruto was the first to take to his official Twitter page, where he accused Odinga and his allies of attempting to save the IEBC commissioners, yet "they put Kenya in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people".

Ruto tweeted at 8:50am on November 25, saying: "The lords of impunity, who destroyed oversight institutions using the handshake fraud, should allow Parliament to hold rogue officials who put the nation in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people to be held to account. New order is Rule of Law, not wishes of big men."

Taking to his official Twitter page, and quote-tweeting President Ruto's post, Odinga said the Head of State should refrain from influencing the course of justice.

"There is due process and natural justice, things aren't just done at the whims of the executive. The rule of law must prevail and not your jungle laws that you want to institute so as to subjugate Kenyans to a conveyor belt system of elections come 2027. We shall not relent," said Odinga.

Four IEBC commissioners Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Justus Nyang'aya and Francis Wanderi are facing petitions in the National Assembly over their refusal to accept the presidential results declared by IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati on August 15, 2022.

The four stormed out of the IEBC's national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya on August 15, and went to the Serena Hotel in Nairobi where they addressed the press, saying that the results that Chebukati was about to announce were processed in an "opaque and unverifiable" manner.

The Supreme Court, however, in a presidential petition filed by Raila Odinga, ruled that generally the correct procedure was followed in declaring William Ruto the winner of the presidential election, and that the four commissioners act of breaking away from the IEBC was an "in-house conflict" that did not jeopardise the electoral process.

Ruto of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) won the August 9, 2022 presidential election after garnering 7.18 million votes (50.49 per cent) against Odinga's 6.94 million votes (48.85 per cent).