Breaking impasse on IEBC good for country

If it goes according to plan, there will be a new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission by the end of next month. This is after a parliamentary select committee reached consensus on all the 10 sticky points the bi-partisan team sought to resolve.

This new development has averted a potentially long-drawn-out process that many feared would ensue given the circumstances that drove the parties to the negotiating table in the first place.

Weekly protests by Opposition CORD supporters in Nairobi and other major cities that often turned violent, was clearly not the best way after four people were shot dead and businesses started counting losses; neither was the intransigence from members of the ruling Jubilee coalition and strong-arm tactics of security personnel.

From the outset, there was a general consensus that as constituted, the IEBC could not be trusted to conduct credible elections in 2017. These doubts stem from the shambolic handling of the 2013 elections and most recently, the Kericho Senate by-election.

It didn't help, either, that the integrity of some commissioners had been questioned following their perceived role in the Chickengate scandal involving British firm Smith and Ouzman to print electoral material between 2008 and 2010 for the consideration of a Sh50 million bribe to Kenyan officials. Two directors of the firm were found guilty and are serving a two-year jail term in Britain. Yet the problem ran deeper than that.

The ignominy of the 2007/2008 post-election violence when Kenyans were pitted against each other after either side of the political divide refused to dialogue following a disputed election result is still etched in our minds. Then, at least 1,300 Kenyans lost their lives in an orgy of killings; more than 600,000 others were displaced by the violence even as they lost property worth millions.

With this still fresh in our memories, it was not the time to moralise about the Constitution. Yet the tragedy playing out as the leaders dug in was that they had not learnt any lessons.

Mercifully and probably after deep reflection, President Uhuru Kenyatta took charge and called for the formation of the 14-member parliamentary select committee to look into the issues CORD and other parties were raising. Commendably, the parliamentary select committee has not recommended cosmetic changes.

They scratched deeper and have given Kenyans reason to believe in democracy where the majority have their way and the minority have their say.

Among the far-reaching recommendations that reinforce this include the acquisition of an integrated information technology system six months to the election to be used in the voting and transmission of results; that an independent audit of the voters' register is carried out.

And to protect our democracy from bad practices like party-hopping, the committee has recommended that the names of those willing to contest in party nominations be published in the Kenya Gazette. The same applies to independent candidates.

To avoid the many pitfalls that come with organising an election, the newly constituted IEBC will have to organise itself well to save the final outcome expensive and time-consuming contests. The 2013 elections were contested because of several shortcomings, including a systems failure.

To offer the promise of free and fair elections, the IEBC must ensure that the election process from voter registration, voting and tallying of votes runs smoothly. IEBC should ensure all the necessary tools are ready and tested beforehand and the workforce receives adequate training.

In 2013,confusion at voting centres ended up disenfranchising many voters and could have compromised the election outcome. Hopefully, the political class will play along to ensure a smooth process devoid of violence and the usual political rhetoric.