Sort out IEBC issue to clear the way for poll

The much-awaited Electoral Laws (amendment) Act comes into force this week and sets the stage for critical reforms to the electoral process. These reforms will hopefully ensure, not so much a free and fair election, but an acceptable election result in 2016.

After observing many elections in Kenya, I have come to accept that free and fair elections is a very subjective concept. What really matters is whether on the whole, management of the elections, especially the election management body, is politically acceptable. It is therefore no wonder that the objective of the Kiraitu/Orengo Committee was not so much seeking technical responses to proposed reforms; any good lawyer would have provided fairly robust proposals, but a political consensus that would give birth to an acceptable political outcome.

After four grueling weeks the Joint Committee managed to provide an array of proposals that both sides of the political divide could consider a win. Anyone studying the final report on the exit of the Commissioners, the process of appointment of new Commissioners, the question of the voters register and even the ICT solution for the 2017 elections will see that the final proposals sought a reasonable win-win for both parties without compromising fundamental principles. I must confess that I was impressed by how reasonable and rational our politicians are, once removed from the public gallery. The astuteness of the co-chairs were a tremendous asset and it helped that these two gentlemen had been the “Young Turks” in the second liberation in the 90s.

While the success of the team may promise an acceptable election next year, the reality is that we are not out of the woods yet. Our greatest foe is time. Planning an election requires a multiplicity of actions that require significant time for preparation. For instance, people who blame the IEBC for the failure of technology in 2013 forget that the short timelines allowed for the procurement and deployment of the technology guaranteed its failure.

Which explains why the Joint Committee required IEBC to procure all ICT equipment by January, eight months before the next elections. Anyone who is familiar with the procurement process in government knows that the three months left before January is hardly enough to complete the procurement process. But even if the procurement was completed, there is no vendor of the volumes of equipment needed that has them on the shelf, which means there will be need for period, taking us dangerously close to the election. This is just one of the areas in which the time remaining, if not well managed, may yet compromise our elections.

Quite apart from ICT, if one looks at the elections plan prepared by IEBC, it is clear that on several other issues of electoral preparedness, including the process leading to the preparation of the final voters register are dangerously compromised by time, more so by the introduction of new timelines. While some of the outstanding issues can be resolved by the secretariat some require decisions of the Commissioners. Unfortunately the exiting Commissioners have no incentive to take any decisions on substantive matters in their exit months. Consequently, until the new team is in office many critical matters remain in limbo.

The yet to be appointed selection panel and Parliament must therefore ensure that the new team is in office at the earliest possible opportunity. The new team should ideally comprise a substantive number of persons who are familiar with the electoral process; there will be no luxury of induction and familiarisation.

Once in office, the team will also require the active support of all arms of government; particularly the ever hesitant National Treasury, there is no room for lethargy. In the meantime, whatever Ezra Chiloba’s team can do, they must do whether there are new Commissioners in office or not. I am convinced that if we are committed and determined we will have a very successful election in 2017.

Whatever we do, we must avoid the tempting trap of postponing the elections, which politicians have started whispering about and for which they will have unusual bipartisan support. This would not only be unconstitutional without a referendum but would also be a fraud on the people of Kenya who expect a new crop of leaders in September 2017.