Two court cases and a row in Azimio have caused the delay in appointing a team to hire new IEBC commissioners, throwing the country into a constitutional crisis.
A petitioner named Boniface Njogu is before the Kiambu Law Court on charges that persons living with disability were not incorporated in the hiring panel.
Justice Dorah Chepkwony is expected to give directions and if possible, a ruling on the case on January 25, 2025.
At the same time, the National Liberal Party and its leader, Augustus Muli, are before the Court of Appeal in Nairobi.
Muli is challenging a decision by the High Court which held that he won in the election by Azimio parties but in the wrong category.
The ruling, in effect, handed Wiper Party a chance to nominate its candidate - Koki Muli - to the hiring panel, which is argued has a huge bearing on the 2027 elections.
Augustus was thus to be compensated for the losses incurred when Azimio delegates nominated him as their representative in the political parties liaison umbrella.
Augustus was elected by 16 out of 23 Azimio affiliate parties, to beat Koki.
Despite winning, Azimio asked Parliament to drop Augustus in favour of Koki and send the latter’s name to President William Ruto.
Azimio secretary general Junet Mohamed told the Parliamentary Service Commission that the list by the Political Parties Liaison Committee fell short of the gender requirement.
Augustus then moved to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and on September 10, got orders that he be reinstated in the State House-bound list.
Kalonzo’s Wiper party appealed the tribunal’s decision and got orders that upheld the National Liberal Party leader’s win.
It however held that Augustus won in the wrong category and thus was to be compensated for the expenses of the PPLC election.
His case is pending at the Court of Appeal.
As a result, the nine-member selection panel that is supposed to bring on board new IEBC commissioners is yet to be formed.
Without commissioners, IEBC cannot conduct by-elections, make bulk purchases, or review boundaries.
A crisis of monumental proportions has ensued, with anxiety kicking in about whether it would be adequately prepared for the general elections.
A blame game followed, with Wiper accusing their Azimio counterparts of being used by government functionaries to delay the process.
On Tuesday, NLP officials and its leader Augustus said he was ready to step down if Azimio agreed to a meeting. He stated that the way out of the debacle is for the Azimio affiliates to sit and make a decision on who would be their representative.
“If the Azimio parties agree, I will step down,” he said Tuesday, when asked about the deepening crisis at the electoral commission. As 16 members of the coalition voted in support of his candidature, it would take the same team to reverse the vote.
“I am willing to step down but only to the right candidate. We need a new election called. I have called them to a meeting to iron out this problem,” he said.
Omondi K’Oyoo, secretary general National Liberal Party, accused the Wiper team of seeking to use shortcuts in the row.
He said the parties pushing them to cede ground need to consider that “the elections were conducted by the IEBC under the supervision of the office of the Registrar of Political Parties”.
K’Oyoo added that no one has disputed the results as were declared in Machakos, hence Wiper should, in its pursuit, get the nod of the other entities that voted.
“It cannot be that all legal entities could get it wrong…the law, as established, talks of Azimio coalition, not a Parliamentary party. Wiper should take note that 16 political parties chose Augustus as their nominee.”
