Calm Wafula Chebukati Savagely Answers Ekuru Aukot After Calling Him Fake: "You Didn't Qualify To Vie"

• Former IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati and presidential hopeful Ekuru Aukot took on each other on Twitter
• Chebukati had praised his chairmanship of the commission, which he observed organised the freest and fairest election in Kenya's history in 2022
• But that particular observation did not sit well with Aukot, who accused Chebukati of an apparent bias in the vote

Nairobi - Former IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati is usually reserved and calm, but a recent social media tiff involving him has proved he can be tough and uncompromising when needed.

The former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman was on Thursday, August 24, provoked on Twitter by Ekuru Aukot, a former presidential hopeful who accused him (Chebukati) of blocking his bid to succeed former president Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2022 presidential vote.

Constantly, any tweep on the X microblogging platform would throw anything 'diatribish' at Chebukati with the confidence that he would not retaliate owing to his reticent nature.

Can a vitriolic tweet scare Chebukati?

And in any case, Chebukati has overcome 'near-lethal' political duress while presiding over the country's past two elections, and thus; finishing his tenure in one piece, and as per the provisions of his contract with the state time-wise, is more of a hardening agent.

It could, therefore, be safe to note that a mere tweet sent in bad taste targeting him would obviously not ruin his day, and hence, looking for a duel with him is akin to waiting for a papal cleric to get married.

Aukot went for Chebukati's jugular after the latter took pride in his chairmanship of the commission in last year's election.

The former IEBC chair had observed that the election was properly held and qualified to be the best and freest of the polls ever held in this independent Kenya.

"In August 2022, Kenya held its freest, fairest and most credible election in its history. I recently presented a paper titled "Role of Technology in Improving the Integrity of the Electoral Process in Kenya". This video introduces the last mile test as key to achieving this feat," tweeted Chebukati.

As earlier hinted, Chebukati's pride in how the elections were handled throughout the electoral period would not sit well with Aukot.

Aukot's bad blood with Chebukati

The former Thirdway Alliance flagbearer pointed out that the IEBC under Chebukati was partisan, and only had a soft spot for the presumed top contenders in the presidential vote.

Clearly still putting up with the disappointment of being denied the opportunity to be Kenya's fifth president, he referred to his learned friend, Chebukati, as 'a fake'.

He even foresaw that Chebukati would be scribed as the worst person to ever preside over the nation's elections management body.

"You're fake. The nomination process was choreographed. You couldn't understand basic constitutional provisions. You were biased toward most of the candidates. When history is properly written, you will be named as the worst chairman of IEBC. After all, you were not even the best during the interviews," fired the former Punguza Mzigo initiator.

Not the one to let this missile lie, at least for once, and for purposes of demarcating boundaries, Chebukati quickly devised a calm but piercing comeback.

Chebukati's unforeseen comeback

He told off Aukot for forcing his existence on the presidential ballot yet he knew he was not qualified for it.

The former IEBC chair thus sought to clean his name, clarifying that Aukot's supposed ineligibility to run for the country's top seat was why he never had his name on the ballot.

"You did not meet the requirements to stand as a presidential candidate in 2022. Period," Chebukati told Aukot.

Tweeps were already taking sides beneath the fiery tweets as they fanned the duel between the two to escalate.

Unfortunately, this would be Chebukati's one and only banter to his fellow attorney, thus ending an otherwise would-be captivating mano-a-mano between two figures of known repute.

I can teach you law; Aukot's offer to Chebukati

But having previously faced off with other fiery Twitter bigwigs of Miguna Miguna's ilk, Aukot rose again to save face.

He chided Chebukati for supposedly not being conversant with the law as regards clearance of the presidential candidates in a general election.

Aukot wondered why Chebukati had deemed it tenable to clear him to partake in the 2017 presidential vote but deemed it otherwise in 2022.

He even offered to school Chebukati on the law; it should not be lost that Chebukati is an attorney of considerable standing.

"I will repeat it here again, your understanding of law and especially the constitution is shallow. We proved you wrong in 2017 and also in 2022 when you cheaply interpreted the requirement to run for president. You simply couldn't read Art. 138.

You had instructions to lock out some candidates on flimsy grounds. I am available for an open debate to give you a free and pro-Bono lesson on the constitutional requirements to run for president," went Aukot.