Kenya risks having illegitimate election, IEBC lawyer warns

IEBC Logo [Elvis Ogina,Standard]

An Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) lawyer has warned that holding the 2027 elections without delimiting boundaries would be illegal.

Appearing before the Supreme Court, IEBC officials argued that failure to conduct the boundary review could put the legitimacy of the polls at risk.

Through its legal team, the Commission insists that the exercise must be completed by July 2027, at least 12 months before the General Election.

"If IEBC is not allowed to review the boundaries, there will be a ripple effect. The election requires delimitation of the boundaries." IEBC's lawyer Edwin Mukele said.

In a response to Justice Njoki Ndung'u's query on the 2027 results legitimacy Murugu replied; "Does it mean that, without the delimitation exercise being carried out as ordered by the Constitution, will affect the legitimacy of the 2027 result? My answer is yes."

Delimitation

According to the law, the boundary delimitation must be completed within a minimum of 12 months before the date of the next general election.

Article 89(2) of the constitution, says the IEBC shall review the names and boundaries of constituencies and shall review at intervals of not less than 8 years and not more than 12 years.

But any review that shall be completed at least 12 months before a general election, the new boundaries won't apply to that election.

On the issue of conducting an election without boundaries they insist that despite the constitution having outlined timeframe of 8 to 12 years the commission is mandated to conduct boundary review it is possible however they warn.

''Having done the previous election without the boundary delimitation back in 2012, the delimitation must be done before the next general election,

Parliament powers

The High Court and the Court of Appeal upheld that changes can be made on the number of constituencies through the parliamentary process, but not factors needed for boundary delimitation.

Geographical features, urban centres, community interests, historical, economic, and cultural ties, and means of communication are some of the crucial factors considered during the review.

The former IEBC, CEO James Oswego while appearing on the NTV morning show weighed in on the boundaries issue, "If you don't follow those factors, you end up with what the Americans call gerrymandering, which means drawing constituency boundaries based not on, based on whimsical matters."

According to Oswago the biggest challenge currently is the lack of an electoral commission.

"We don't have a commission, and that is a serious issue...Even if you get the commission tomorrow, it has to clear the by-election backlog," Oswego Said.

He further stated, "Boundaries delimitation is not sitting down in a room with a sheet of paper, a ruler, a pencil, a map, and a rubber."

Homa Bay Member of Parliament Peter Kaluma, in a statement, criticised the ruling, by Justice Lawrence Mugambi terming it as a setback.

"The orders issued suspending the vetting of IEBC commissioners run contrary to the public interest in a properly constituted electoral commission to undertake the pending by-election and adequately prepare for the 2027 general elections,''Kaluma insisted.