Written By Lisa Murimi
The reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has reached a crucial stage with various groups submitting their representatives for the selection panel.
This follows President William Ruto’s assent to the IEBC Bill, which mandates a tight timeline for forming the selection panel.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula outlined the procedural timeline on July 22, emphasizing that “within 14 days of assent, we must have the selection panel in place.”
The panel will consist of nine members from the Parliamentary Service Commission, 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).
Wetangula explained, “The nominating agencies of the selection panel are the Parliamentary Service Commission; we have already organized, 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.”
The names of the nominees are due in Parliament by Friday, July 26, to be gazetted by Tuesday, July 30. Wetangula expressed hope that the selection panel would be ready by the end of the week for the President to appoint the chairman and for the rest to be gazetted.
Once formed, 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 has retained its previous nominees, Dr. Nelson Makanda and Fatuma Saman, while ICPAK will be represented by Andrew Tanui. The LSK and the National Assembly Speaker are expected to announce their nominees soon.
The reconstitution of the IEBC is a significant step towards enhancing accountability and ensuring fair representation. Various groups, including politicians, human rights organizations, and Gen Z advocates, have called for the expedited reconstitution of the IEBC.
Gen Z advocates have particularly emphasized the need for mechanisms to recall Members of the National Assembly who fail to deliver on their mandates.
“Reconstituting the IEBC is long overdue. Some electoral units do not have representation, which is unfair to them. Again, we want an avenue to recall some of our MPs if they fail to deliver on their work,” Gen Z advocates insisted.
Human rights organizations and political parties have also stressed the importance of having a functional and accountable electoral body in place.
