Team trashes petition against IEBC

A petition seeking to send nine commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission packing has been dismissed by the National Assembly Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

The committee, which has been probing the competence of the petition by activist Wafula Buke has recommended that the same be dismissed due to lack of merit.

The committee will now table the report before the House for adoption or rejection or amendments.

Buke filed the petition on April 29 this year seeking the removal of the commissioners, accusing them of gross violation of the Constitution and incompetence in the way they handled the March 2013 disputed elections.

The committee adopted the decision to trash the petition despite strong opposition from CORD allied members, who are now threatening to table their own dissenting report in the House. Earlier, CORD members led by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma had scheduled a press conference on their parallel report but it did not materialise.

Jubilee coalition enjoys majority membership in the 29-member committee, chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga.

CORD MPs, who registered their dissent on the report, included Kaluma, David Ochieng' (Ugenya), Christine Ombaka (Siaya) and Agostino Neto (Ndhiwa).

Committee member William Cheptumo (Baringo North) said the petition failed the test of the Constitution.