Eyes On IEBC Reforms As Groups Pick Representatives For Selection Panel

The attention has shifted to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as the reconstitution has reached a critical stage with various groups submitting their representatives for the selection panel. 

This is coming after President William Ruto on Tuesday, July 9 assented to the IEBC (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which will kickstart the formation of a new-look electoral management system in the country that includes the recruitment of new commissioners and a chairperson.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula imposed a tight deadline on July 22 noting that “within 14 days of assent, we must have the selection panel in place”.

He revealed that the selection panel will consist of nine members, including representatives from the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), and the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC).

National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula during a past House session. /FILE

PSC and the LSK are expected to send their representatives’ names to the panel on Monday, July 29.

“The nominating agencies of the selection panel are the Parliamentary Service Commission, that is ourselves; we have already organised, and we are going to conduct interviews for the nominated candidate by the majority and the minority parties.

“The inter-religious council is nominating two names, the Law Society of Kenya should give one nominee, the ICPAK should nominate one person, and the Political Parties Liaison Committee will be nominating three—one from parties not represented in Parliament and from parties that are represented in Parliament, the majority and minority coalition,” Wetang’ula explained.

This 14-day timeline means that the names of the nominees should have reached Parliament by Friday, July 26 to be gazetted by Tuesday, July 30.

“We hope that by the close of the week, we shall have the selection panel ready to be sent to the president to appoint the chairman out of them and the rest to be gazetted not later than Tuesday this week,” the Speaker stated.

Once established, the panel has three months to complete the recruitment exercise and forward the names of nominees for IEBC chairperson and commissioners to the President.

The Inter-Religious Council of Kenya picked Nelson Makanda of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya and Fatma Saman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum, who have been retained from the previous selection panel announced on February 27, 2023.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants-Kenya nominated Tanui Andrew Kipkoech as its representative in the panel, while the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) nominated Evans Misati – the current chair of the committee. He is to represent non-parliamentary parties and was also retained from the previous selection panel.

Others in the PPLC team are Nicodemus Bore to represent the majority party. He is an executive director at President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.

PPLC also nominated Augustus Muli to represent the minority side. He is the leader of the National Liberal Party.

Eyes are on who the Raila Odinga and Ruto parties have picked to represent their sides. The major political coalitions are to nominate two persons through the PSC, which conducted the interviews to pick its nominees on Friday.

The nominees are to represent the majority party or coalition of parties and the minority party or coalition of parties. After their appointment, the panel would have 90 days to forward the names of the nominees to the IEBC, after which it would stand dissolved.

The demand for a new IEBC has been put as a priority during the recent nationwide protests which have been led and involved by Kenya’s Gen Z. President Ruto has been under pressure to sign the Bill, despite promising on Sunday, June 30 that he would appoint a new-look IEBC in 10 days. With calls for Members of Parliament (MP) who voted in favour of the Finance Bill 2024 to be recalled and bolder calls for Ruto to resign, the youth had believed that the paralysis concerning the reconstitution of the IEBC could not be allowed to continue.

With one of the demands released online previously reading “Constitute the IEBC within the next 30 days to facilitate our move to recall all rogue MPs and hold fresh elections,” the IEBC has been viewed as a critical body in having their wish for the lawmakers to be recalled and sent back to the ballot.

One of the main triggers for the anti-Finance Bill protests was the controversial Finance Bill which sailed through Parliament on Tuesday, June 25 after 195 Members of Parliament voted to pass it while 106 others rejected it. This has ignited calls for the recall of MPs accused of betraying Kenyans, a process that involves the IEBC.

Furthermore, reconstituting the IEBC early is also viewed as important given that the next general elections are in 2027- three years away from now.

The IEBC’s dysfunction, due to the absence of commissioners, has halted critical operations, including the organisation of by-elections, and the move is threatening to put the next general elections in limbo, other than discharging most of its constitutional mandates including conducting by-elections and boundary reviews.

The electoral body has been in disarray since the retirement of Chairman Wafula Chebukati and commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye in January last year. The situation was worsened by the ousting of Juliana Cherera and three other commissioners for rejecting Ruto’s presidential election victory.