IEBC Chief Executive Officer James Oswago promises transparent by-elections

By James Mbaka

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has fired a salvo at those calling for quick reforms to the electoral body saying such hastily and politically motivated push would boomerang in the long term.

IEBC says it is also up to the challenge to conduct free, fair, transparent and credible elections in the electoral units that have seen their elected representative lose their seats through successful court petitions.

The judiciary is expected to have concluded the rulings of all the election petitions by mid-October.

So far Kibwezi East MP Patrick Musimba and his Matungulu counterpart Stephen Mule and Siaya governor Cornel Rasanga have lost their seats through successful court petitions.

More by elections are impending as the judiciary rolls its sleeves to deliver its rulings ahead of the deadline.

On the agitations by CORD to restructure the commission ahead of the 2017 general elections, the commission says it does not resist change but would welcome objective and bi-partisan post-election evaluation that would strengthen the body.

IEBC Chief Executive officer, James Oswago said the proposed structural changes to the commission must be done in a well-designed and organized manner as the body moves to redeem its image and restore public confidence after the divisive March 4, general elections.

“If post-election evaluation is to disband the commission after every general election then that is the prerogative of the people and not a selected class of politicians,” said Oswago during a TV interview Sunday night in reference to constitutional changes to warrant such disbandment.

The Commission came under scathing attack from the political class across the divide due to technological challenges that hindered transparency during the electoral processes. The commission had at various stages deployed technology facilitated electoral processes including Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) during voter registration; Electronic Voter Identification (EVID) on polling day and Results Transmission System (RTS) during tallying.

But all the technologies collapsed on the day of voting triggering sharp reactions from the election players who questioned scandal-shrouded tendering whose process has been the subject of investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

But Oswago who is fighting off claims of a kickback of sh135 million from a company that supplied the faulty BVR machines moved to court to quash raids in his homes accusing EACC of ‘peddling wild’ allegations of corruption against him Oswago accused the commission of violating his privacy and property rights by denying him justice and violating the ‘elementary standard of investigation’.

But Oswago expressed his reservations on the ongoing investigations saying they are targeting him and unnecessarily harassing his family.

“My children ask me so many questions but I wonder how a person can go asking members of my family questions on subjects they do not understand,” quipped Oswago.

He said IEBC will continue to invest heavily on technology to boost transparency and credible electoral processes “we must continue to embrace technology aided electoral process so as to enhance speedy and credible process to give the electorate results that reflect their will,” said Oswago.

He said the recently concluded peaceful by-election in the issues-dogged Makueni senatorial race, was a pointer to the electoral body’s commitment and dedication to conduct transparent elections.

“We did it fairly well in Makweni by-election and do not see why as a commission we can’t deliver on our mission,” said Oswago.

Asked if he would seek another term as the CEO of the country’s electoral body Oswago said,” never, never, never, I want to finish my term and go home this has been a challenging assignment but I believe I have done relatively well for this country.”

He said the moments after the March 4 general elections have not been smooth saying for three months after the announcement of the results he would not visit his rural home because of, “some see it that I corrupted with the perceived beneficiaries to bungle the election and treat me with a lot of suspicion,” he added stressing that even the perceived beneficiaries still treat him with utmost suspect.