EX-IEBC Chair Chebukati is dead

Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati has died, the family has confirmed.

The confirmation of his death comes after The Star exclusively reported last week that he was critically ill.

The former IEBC boss had been admitted to a hospital in Nairobi where he had been undergoing treatment for nearly a week.

Chebukati who was aged 64, died at 11 pm on Thursday.

The Former IEBC boss had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. What Chebukati was ailing from still remains private.

Chebukati served as IEBC chair for a full term of six years and retired in January 2023.

He presided over the 2017 and 2022 General Elections. 

During his tenure, he managed to oversee three Kenyan elections: the 2017 Kenyan general election, the October 2017 Kenyan repeat presidential election and the 2022 Kenyan general election.

He was a lawyer with 37 years of experience and ran his sole proprietorship law firm for 20 years.

In 2006, Chebukati founded a Nairobi-based partnership law firm Cootow & Associate Advocates, which he resigned from on January 17, 2017, prior to becoming IEBC chairperson.

He practiced corporate law, commercial law, corporate governance and dispute resolution.

He was a politician and member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, which he also resigned from, before applying for the position of chairperson of IEBC.

Chebukati was married to Mary Chebukati, and had children, though he kept his family life private.

Mary was appointed Chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) in 2023, succeeding Jane Kiringai.

Chebukati was an avid golfer, serving as captain and chairman of the Nyali and Mombasa Golf Clubs and a member of the Kenya Golfing Society.