Breakthrough paves way for race to set up new-look IEBC

Members of IEBC joint parliamentary committee KIpchumba Markomen(left)James Orengo(center) and Bonnie Khalalwe during their final sitting at a Nairobi hotel o0n 16/8/16-BEVERLYNE MUSILI

MPs have committed to ensure that seven new electoral commissioners are in office not later than September 30, some 10 months to the General Election.

Parliament will, however, be required to work harder to make the necessary changes to electoral laws to enable the setting up of a selection panel, which is to be appointed by the

President to recruit the seven commissioners who will serve full time. After month-long dramatic talks, CORD and Jubilee representatives yesterday announced an agreement that will culminate in the exit of the nine commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) led by Issack Hassan.

“We have discussed and agreed how to fill the new offices. We have further agreed that the current commissioners should make a dignified exit, once the new commissioners are sworn in, and that should not be later than September 30, 2016,” said Siaya Senator James Orengo, the co-chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee.

Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, the other chairman, added: “In light of the fast-approaching date of the next General Election, the processes of the appointment and recruitment of the new commissioners must be done with immense urgency.”

In future, the team said, the IEBC recruitment processes should commence at least six months before the expiry of their term.

POLITICAL SETTLEMENT

The elections are due on August 8, 2017, meaning Parliament will have to race against time to implement amendments to the law to legislate the political settlement that also covers an audit of the poll register, proposals on tallying and announcement of election results, including presidential, at each polling station, and new party nomination timelines to eliminate party hopping.

Mr Hassan and eight of his commissioners will leave office with their heads held high as the team reached a consensus that a dignified and negotiated vacation of office should be worked out by concerned authorities, within two weeks of Parliament’s adoption of the report.

“This committee will discuss with the commissioners, the Attorney General, the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission what the dignified exit will entail,” said Mr Orengo.

The announcement effectively seals the fate of the IEBC team of commissioners who include chairman Hassan, Lilian Mahiri-Zaja, Abdullahi Sharawe, Thomas Letangule, Mohammed Alawi, Albert Bwire, Kule Godana and Yusuf Nzibo.

Mr Kiraitu said the select team had reached an agreement that the voter register should be cleaned up through a forensic audit instead of listing voters afresh.

FORENSIC AUDIT

“The special forensic audit should be conducted by an independent body appointed by the IEBC. The next elections should be done using ICT and biometric voter kits,” said Kiraitu.

 

“The BVR kits should be acquired eight months before the elections, to provide time for testing and the training of those who will handle them,” he added.

The controversial matter of using IEBC to conduct party nominations was also ironed out by the committee, with the team agreeing that it should not be an issue once a party requests their services.

The committee, which will present the report to President Uhuru Kenyatta, Opposition chief Raila Odinga and the leaders of the National Assembly and the Senate, also slammed the door on party hoppers.

“We have proposed that the Elections Act be changed to stop party hopping during nominations,” said Kiraitu.

The MPs announced that they had resolved the sticky issues and were now ready to hand over the report to the House.

But in the National Assembly, Speaker Justin Muturi warned about failure by the 14-member team to beat the 30-day deadline to table the report in the House yesterday.

“If they were supposed to submit their report, they know the rules. They can just entertain themselves. If the report comes here before leave of the House to extend, then it will be a nullity. It may well be that somebody is engaging in things that are of no consequence,” said Muturi, around the same time the committee was reading its final recommendations at Windsor Hotel.

The selection panel to pick new poll commissioners will consist of four persons; two men and two women nominated by the Parliamentary Service Commission and one person each representing the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya and the Hindu Council of Kenya.

The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, the National Muslim Leaders Forum and the Kenya Council of Imams and Ulamaa collectively, also have one slot. But the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims has since written to the committee explaining that the other two Muslim organisations have allowed them to nominate the representative.