Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) meets party leaders over preparation for 2017 race

The planned launch of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s (IEBC) road map to 2017 General Election today appears to be in doubt after the Opposition raised objections.

Parties affiliated to the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) and Narc Kenya said they cannot be party to the launch of a document they had not participated in formulating.

(From left) IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba, Vice Chair Lilian Mahiri Zaja, CORD leader Raila Odinga, senators Moses Wetang'ula and Hassan Omar address the Press in Nairobi yesterday.
(PHOTO: FIDELIS KABUNYI/STANDARD)

Political party leaders yesterday pressed IEBC to shelve today’s planned launch of its 2015-2020 Strategic Plan to allow further consultations.

CORD leader Raila Odinga told IEBC to postpone the launch until adequate consensus is built around the document to guide electoral affairs up to 2020.

“We have proposed to IEBC to postpone tomorrow’s (today) launch because we feel that we as stakeholders have not been adequately involved in the drafting of the strategic plan,” said Raila.

The CORD leader was categorical that the electoral agency did not seek stakeholders’ input while drafting the document. But there was no consensus after the meeting that lasted for over three hours at a Nairobi hotel, with the parties and IEBC maintaining their stand. Narc Kenya Leader Martha Karua said IEBC has not been formally engaging the Opposition on various issues including how to reform the election laws.

“Our main issue is that IEBC has not been formally engaging us on its programmes, which we are supposed to be part of,” said Karua.

Karua demanded that the electoral body postpones the launch of the document and gives the Opposition more time to go through it.

But IEBC Vice Chair Lilian Mahiri-Zaja remained non-committal on whether today’s launch will take place or not. She said even though the Opposition had rejected the plan, the commissioners needed more time to consult about the matter. “We take into consideration the objection of the Opposition that we postpone the launch of the Plan and allow them more time to make themselves conversant with the document,” she said.

Raila said they want the commission to address voter registration, issuance of the identity cards, a single clean voter register and tamper-proof election results system put in place.

In the document, IEBC projects to spend a staggering Sh30 billion to prepare for the 2017 General Election, including voter education, registration of voters and ICT integrated in electoral processes and management. The commission plans to register 11.4 million more voters ahead of the next polls. IEBC re-launched continuous voter registration in April 2014 but by December 2014, only 38,304 persons had been registered.

And to avoid the debacle of purchasing electoral equipment witnessed in the run-up to the 2013 elections, the commission will formulate a plan to guide the procurement and delivery of election materials for the 2017 General Election. IEBC also plans to develop a model plan for the management of the National Tallying Centre and adjust the time threshold for submission of results to the centre. The electoral agency has been criticised over the tallying of presidential results in 2013 and 2007.

 Security issue

The commission intends to initiate amendments to electoral laws to address contentious issues like the education qualification for candidates seeking elective posts and ambiguities with regard to elector’s cards.

Yesterday, Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) also wanted to know why  IEBC had reneged on an agreement to bring all parties on board to plan for the date to launch the document.

“Political parties are wondering why IEBC has not found it fit to discuss its audit of the 2013 elections, whose findings have been ignored in the development of the Strategic Plan,” said PPLC Chair Elizabeth Ongoro.

Raila said apart from expressing their displeasure with IEBC over the launch of the Strategic Plan, they also discussed how the 2013 General Election was conducted by the commission and what needs to be done.

He noted there are other issues still bedevilling IEBC including the change of the election date, pieces of legislation that need amendment and disbandment of the commission before the 2017 polls. “We have issues with IEBC but it’s still the commission in place and nothing stops us from engaging with them because we are stakeholders,” he said.

 Ford-Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula (Bungoma), senators James Orengo (Siaya) and Hassan Omar (Mombasa), ODM Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen and Okoa Kenya Initiative Chairman Paul Mwangi were present. Raila maintained there is need for the commission to organise a validation workshop before the launch. He told the electoral body that security during elections was still a major concern for the Opposition and that there is need to discuss ways of improving the situation.