Why IEBC hiring panel is set to go home, job not done

The clock is ticking for the team of seven hired to pick IEBC chiefs in President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga's plans to fast-track the appointments.

The recruitment process by the Nelson Makanda-led team was stopped midway to give room for talks between the two warring political sides.

This came when the panel was just about to shortlist the finalists from among the 25 applicants for chairperson and 925 for commissioners.

In early February, a court ordered the panel to resume work immediately but no shortlist has come from the team several weeks later.

Political observers say the team could be tied to the whims of political forces and stand on a shaky ground with the renewed bid to set up a new and better IEBC.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill drastically changes the form of the selection panel.

It says the current team will cease to exist when the proposed law is enacted, although the members could be re-nominated.

“The selection panel existing immediately at the commencement date of this Act ceases to exist but a person who served as a member of that selection panel may be nominated to serve as a member of a selection panel appointed under this Act,” the bill reads in part.

Whereas the professional bodies may retain the nominees in the current team, the political appointees may change a great deal.

During the creation of the current panel, Raila and his Azimio brigade kept off and have maintained they did not participate in the composition of the team.

This could see some of the appointees, especially by the political parties, dropped and new names floated.

Following consensus from the talks, the team has been expanded from the current seven to nine members.

It is proposed that two persons will be nominated by the Parliamentary Service Commission.

The two will represent the majority party or coalition of parties and the minority party or coalition of parties.

The hiring panel will also comprise three persons nominated by the Political Parties Liaison Committee.

Of the three, one will be from a party other than a parliamentary party or coalition of parties, another from a parliamentary party or coalition of parties forming the national government.

The third PPLC nominee will be drawn from a parliamentary party or coalition of parties not forming the national government.

The Law Society of Kenya’s post remains unchanged and will second one person to the team should MPs approve the proposed law as drawn.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya has one slot and two persons nominated by the Interreligious Council of Kenya.

Public Service Commission has lost its slot in the changes, meaning its representative, Charity Kisotu (vice chairperson of the hiring panel), will have no legal standing to be in the team.

Signs of how the thawing political relations between Ruto and Raila are paving the way for the creation of a new IEBC are starting to show.

MPs, forging a common front, maintained a studious silence on the nay vote after Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah moved a motion to hasten the process.

In his statement, the Kikuyu MP said, “There is light at the end of the tunnel,” sending a signal the proposed law would easily sail through the approval processes.

The House resolved to reduce the publication period of the bill from 14 days to one day and it was introduced immediately.

“We don’t have a functional IEBC. We must establish a new commission urgently. This is so that members of the public from Banissa constituency could see some light at the end of the tunnel,” Ichung’wah said.

This means that the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee has about 28 days within which it should make recommendations.

Majority leader Opiyo Wandayi said Azimio will follow the process keenly, to ensure it produces an acceptable IEBC.

“Elections in this country, just as in this part of the world, is a matter of life and death. Therefore, the body that is to be charged with the responsibility of managing elections must be, like Ceasar’s wife, beyond reproach and enjoy the confidence of the wider majority of the populace,” he said.

With the proposed law setting a 90-day time limit within which the panel has to send names to the President for appointment, a new commission could be in place by July 1 or earlier.

“The selection panel shall finalise the recruitment exercise within 90 days of its appointment and forward the names of the nominees to the President and shall thereafter stand dissolved,” the proposal says.

IEBC has been operating without commissioners since the unceremonious exit of four of its members and the retirement of chairperson Wafula Chebukati and two commissioners, whose terms ended January last year.

Political analyst Herman Manyora says having a functional IEBC will be in the interest of both parties.

“Why would they want a crisis? I don’t think Raila needs a crisis. I don’t think Ruto will be happy with a crisis, because there is one, whether we like it or not,” he said.

Owing to the lack of commissioners, the country stares at a constitutional crisis over the demarcation of electoral boundaries with the deadline lapsing this month.

With the last boundary review in March 2012, a new one must take place by March 2024, but IEBC has no commissioners. Nadco proposes an extension.

Boundaries review is among the major decisions that the courts said require commissioners’ involvement.

Crucial operations have grounded to a halt as the IEBC secretariat has limits within which they can make decisions on procurement and spending.

As the commission’s pending bills continue to pile up, it needs to conduct three by-elections – one parliamentary and two for ward representatives.

Time, therefore, is not a luxury for the Ruto and Raila teams, albeit they are granting MPs power to extend the panel’s tenure.

“Parliament may, by resolution passed in both the National Assembly and the Senate, extend the tenure of the selection panel for a specified period,” the proposed law reads.

It also attempts to counter the issues that have caused turbulence in the electoral commission.

The new bill says the quorum for the conduct of business at a meeting of the Commission shall be at least five members of the Commission.

On decision making it urges consensus but says the majority rule would carry the day.

“Unless a unanimous decision is reached, a decision on any matter before the Commission shall be by the concurrence of a majority of all the members of the Commission.”

The new law also deletes the current provision where the vice chair can act for the chairperson and also introduces a three-year term limit for the CEO, renewable once.