Tribunal quashes Azimio bid to alter IEBC hiring panel list

A tribunal has barred Parliament from replacing persons nominated to the IEBC hiring panel by the political parties’ liaison committee.

The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal on Tuesday ordered Parliament against sending to President William Ruto any list other than that which was forwarded by liaison committee.

It gave orders quashing any lists to Parliament that do not have the name of Augustus Muli who sued after Azimio sought to change the list.

Muli sought court redress after Azimio coalition party reportedly sought to replace him from the list presented by political parties.

Azimio sought to replace the leader of National Liberal Party with Koki Muli of Wiper party as the nominee for the parliamentary party under the committee.

This was after the committee wrote to PSC nominating its chairman Evans Misati, Nicodemus Bore of UDA and Muli as its representatives.

But Azimio told PSC to remove Muli, first on grounds the list has men yet it should have at least one woman, and on assertions that he failed the party’s vetting.

Azimio secretary general Junet Mohamed dismissed the committee’s endorsement of three men as its nominees, citing an outright contravention of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission laws.

“The nominee elected to represent the Azimio coalition was rejected by the coalition for lacking the requisite qualifications and credentials,” he said.

Following the developments, Muli moved to the tribunal with prayers that Azimio be stopped from forwarding names to the Parliamentary Service Commission, and ultimately to President Ruto without his name.

He asked the court to stop PSC from forwarding the names of the nominees to the President for appointment of the IEBC selection panel, halting the formation of the hiring panel.

The tribunal in its decision held that Muli was properly elected by the PPLC as its representative to the team.

“The first respondent (PSC) is hereby restrained from replacing any names from the PPLC plenary elections,” the court ruled.

In the ruling delivered virtually on Tuesday, the tribunal dismissed all preliminary objections raised by the respondents.

Ruto is expected to constitute the selection panel to appoint the next chairperson and commissioners of the IEBC.

He is to use a list forwarded by the PSC after receiving the nominations of various bodies with representatives in the nine-member panel.

ICPAK nominated Andrew Tanui as its representative whereas the Inter-religious Council nominated Nelson Makanda of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya and Fatma Saman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum.

The nominees for the LSK and PSC are yet to be unveiled.

PSC is supposed to nominate two persons, three for the case of the parties liaison outfit.

Azimio is entitled to one of the PPLC slots, and the rest for UDA and a non-parliamentary party – which Muli belongs.

In his papers, the petitioner averred that Koki lost the election which was held by the PPLC on July 26, hence Azimio cannot purport to change his name. Muli got 16 votes against Koki’s seven.

The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties issued membership register of the PPLC members who were eligible to participate in the vote.

PPLC had informed PSC that there was no framework on achieving the two-thirds gender rule, on ground the process was competitive.

This was after PSC asked the PPLC, in a July 29 letter by secretary Jeremiah Nyegenye, to address the gender question.

The IEBC law says the respective nominating agencies shall ensure no more than two thirds of the nominees are of the same gender.

The formation of the IEBC team to replace Wafula Chebukati and other members of the commission has delayed following the row.

The deadline for the nominating agencies to send representatives to PSC for the listing lapsed on July 29.

IEBC has no commissioners, crippling the secretariat as it cannot make major decisions such as by-elections and boundaries review.