IEBC: Preparations for 2017 General Election continue despite political battles

IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says preparations for the 2017 General Election are on course despite distractions caused by demands for its disbandment. The past weeks have seen heightened activity, by the Opposition, in a push to have the electoral body disbanded on the premise that it could not be trusted to conduct next year's general election.

Jubilee has nominated an 11-member committee as part of a select team to discuss the Commission's fate. The Opposition is yet to nominate its members and is digging in for yet another round of protests if its demands for "talks before talks" are not met.

Inquiries by The Standard on Sunday to IEBC on how the recent activities have affected operations at the elections body show a team wearing a brave face, saying they remain focused on the task ahead largely within the timelines in its Election Operations Plan (EOP) 2015-2017. "The key activities are within the stipulated timelines but there are a few that need fast-tracking," says IEBC Communications and Public Affairs Manager Andrew Limo.

He says while recent activities outside IEBC offices are "demoralising", the Commission's employees countrywide have resolved to stay focused on the constant issue; that there will be an election next year.

"We are committed to deliver on our mandate and even exceed expectations, but the demonstrations have distracted our clients who visit IEBC offices for continuous voter registration. We hope this will come to an end soon," he says.

Other sources within the Commission also cite anxiety over the fate of the IEBC secretariat, with a section of politicians said to be pushing to have it sent home alongside the commissioners. The danger with this, according to some officials within the Commission, is that the Secretariat may concentrate on looking for political backers to shield it, thus distracting it from preparing for the elections.

The Commission however maintains it is sticking to its elections plan, which identifies essential areas for delivery of a free, fair and credible poll. These include; a legal and regulatory framework, voter education, voter registration, election technologies, electoral process logistics, nominations and voting. Other areas are election results management, election security, stakeholder engagement, and funding.

According to the plan, a review of election laws to align with the Constitution was to have been completed by February 2016.

So far, the Elections Amendment Bill has gone through the First reading in Parliament. It was debated in April. The EOP timelines also stipulate that election campaign financing regulations be in place by February 2016, but the regulations are still at the draft stage.

"It is pending further discussion with State Financial Agencies before consolidation and finalisation for presentation to the Parliamentary committee on delegated legislation," says Limo.

Draft voter education regulations, on the other hand, have been developed and are currently with the Kenya Law Reform Commission for consideration. Development of manuals and training materials on voter registration, which had been given a timeline of December 2015 are ready, with the animation processes underway. The Commission is within its timeline on Phase 1 of Mass Voter Registration, which was completed by March 2016. But it fell way short of the target. On the issue of engagement with the National Registration Bureau, on data for Kenyan citizens issued with IDs, the Commission says ''engagement with the bureau was undertaken in December 2015, and that there are more collaboration meetings on the way''.

The Commission's ICT audit had a deadline of December 2016, but was completed much earlier in April 2016. Although the EOP provides a timeline for March 2016 for engagement with mobile service providers to improve coverage, talks between the two are still ongoing.

The Commission attributes some of the delays in meeting set goals within stipulated timelines to delays in enactment of laws by the National Assembly, but is happy to have allocated the requested Sh19b in this year's budget to enable it prepare for the elections. It cites massive requests for voter transfers, particularly in urban areas, as a challenge it did not anticipate and one that is eating into its time.

The Commission received over 600,000 requests, nationally, for voter transfers, with Nairobi region, which also includes Kajiado County, accounting for the highest number at 116,000. Nyanza central region, which includes Homabay, Kisumu and Siaya counties, registered 98,000 such requests. The Commission's Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba says the Commission plans to roll out inspection of the voters roll in August 2016 and is also developing the results management framework, with a draft expected to be subjected to public participation.