Why all must tread carefully on IEBC

The furore over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has heightened. The Opposition has not been at ease with the IEBC after it disputed the outcome of the 2013 General Election at the Supreme Court. And last month, the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee unanimously called for the disbandment of the IEBC. The Church and LSK have also called for the reconstitution of the electoral body.

At the heart of this agitation is the contention that IEBC fails the test of impartiality and is also mired in integrity issues. Yet calls from the Opposition to storm the IEBC offices and eject the officials only cloud the issues. The country’s leadership including the President, cannot just sit back and bid time and imagine that the IEBC storm will blow over. The wild agitation by Cord and the intransigent views advanced by some top Jubilee leaders have an ominous ring that echoes the events preceding the ill-fated 2007/08 post-election period. That should not be allowed.