Juliana Cherera

Juliana Whonge Cherera
Born	(1976-08-26) 26 August 1976 Mombasa, Kenya
Alma mater	Kenyatta University (BA) KEMU (M.Ed.)
Known for	disowning the 2022 Kenyan general election results announced by the Chairman
Title	Vice Chair, IEBC

Juliana Whonge Cherera was the Vice Chair at Kenya's Electoral agency IEBC until her resignation on 5th Dec 2022. She became a public subject in Kenya in mid-August 2022 after leading three other commissioners Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit, and Justus Nyang’aya in disowning the 2022 Kenyan general election results read out by Chair Wafula Chebukati terming them to be 'opaque'. The Cherera Four were Dissenting Members. They had a right under Article 17 to request a postponement of the announcement of the results, given that the commission was still within the legal time limits. Commonly referred to as The Cherera Four, history will record that they saw themselves as referees who just wanted the right things to be done right and hence earned no friends on either side of the political divide.

Career

She previously served as the Chief Executive in the Strategic Delivery Unit of the Mombasa County Government, where she had served as Secretary in different portfolios. Before taking up the county jobs, Juliana worked as an Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teacher. After University College Cherera to the teacher in primary school because that level of education was devolved. In her estimation, the counties would need university-educated talent to manage and deliver excellent education programs.

She was appointed a commissioner at the IEBC on 2 September 2021 by former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta. She was sworn in 12 days later by Chief Justice Martha Koome at the Supreme Court in Nairobi.

Weeks later, she was unanimously elected as the Vice Chair. She resigned from the position on 5 December 2022 days after she, and three others, had been suspended by Kenya's President William Ruto. Post IEBC, Mrs. Cherera has been out of the spotlight and told friends she is seeking a quiet place to think and reflect. She is looking to organize former commissioners to work on a white paper regarding the administrative and legal electoral reforms and structures necessary to improve the credibility of elections in Kenya and Africa. The Consortium of Ex-Commisioners hopes to harness the tremendous experiential resource asset that is domiciled in the ex-commissioners in Electoral Management Bodies to bring well-thought-out reforms that will help avoid repeated mistrust in Election results and strengthen Democracy in Kenya and Africa. They also want to mitigate the current narrative that Electoral Bodies are career killers in Africa to attract and keep talent.

Education

She attained a Bachelor of Arts (Education) from Kenyatta University with a specialization in Geography and Kiswahili and is a holder of a Master of Education in Leadership and Educational Management from KEMU. She also studied Project Management at the Kenya Institute of Management, Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) at KNEC, and Strategic Leadership and Development Program at the Kenya School of Government. She is a member of the Kenya Devolution Support Program Committee.