The late Wafula Chebukati during his farewell party on January 14, 2023 in Nairobi/HANDOUTFollowing the tumultuous 2022 general election, former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman, Wafula Chebukati embarked on a global mission to share his wealth of experience in election management and leadership.
From May 2023 to early 2024, Chebukati's journey took him to several countries, where he championed the cause for credible elections and strengthened democratic processes.
His rallying call to election management bodies was to strengthen the integrity of electoral processes as well as foster collaboration among other stakeholders.
Chebukati officially exited office on January 18 after serving for a constitutional term of six years.
“I wish to thank Kenyans for giving me an opportunity to serve them. It has been an honor,” he said in his last statement.
“It was undoubtedly a challenging assignment, but I served my country to the best of my ability and in accordance with the oath of office I took.”
Chebukati, who passed away Thursday night, had maintained a quite life for almost one year now after concluding the assignment.
There was, however, a few private events that he made public.
His final moments were marked by an intense commitment to the values of integrity, transparency, and technology in elections.
These are some of the major activities in his two years outside service.
In late November 2023, he attended the 25th anniversary symposium of the Electoral Commissions Forum of Southern African Development Community (ECF-SADC) in Cape Town, South Africa.
During his keynote address, he emphasised the need for “fidelity to the law” as the key to ensuring elections are conducted with integrity and trust.
The symposium also provided an opportunity for him to engage in critical dialogue with other African election leaders, including Justice Mwambegele of Tanzania's National Electoral Commission.
Their discussions centered on regional cooperation to improve the quality of elections across Africa.
Earlier in the month, Chebukati was in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he delivered a compelling presentation at the 2023 ECONEC Symposium.
His talk, titled “Overcoming Political, Legal, and Institutional Constraints Against Electoral Reforms,” resonated with the audience, as he shared how the IEBC successfully navigated challenges to enhance Kenya’s electoral processes.
During the same month, he also visited Lisbon, Portugal, for the 19th International Electoral Affairs Symposium, where he discussed the use of technology in Kenya's 2022 elections.
In his address, he highlighted how the IEBC leveraged technology to ensure transparency, even reflecting on lessons from the previous 2017 election.
He also displayed a video extract of the Kenya 2022 presidential declaration event on August 15, 2022, at Bomas and posed the question: Can technology cure impunity?
Chebukati was in the country on the invitation of the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) and the Portuguese Electoral Commission.
It brought together representatives from the electoral democracy community to share best practice initiatives for adaptation in over 120 countries.
His efforts were rewarded when the IEBC won the prestigious Election Management Award at the event.
The commission also emerged as the runner’s up in Election Ergonomic Award.
In July, the same year, he gave a presentation during the Electoral Integrity Project's (EIP) annual conference on his project titled "Role of Technology in Improving the Integrity of the Electoral Process in Kenya".
EIP is based at the Royal Military College of Canada.
It seeks to strengthen elections in contests around the world through innovative and policy-relevant scientific research that achieves international standing in the social sciences.
In his final words on December 4, 2023, he declared, “From East to West, North to South, grateful to have completed my 2023 global tour on sharing my election management and leadership experiences...Together, let’s nurture and move democracy forward.”
