President William Ruto has appointed a nine-member IEBC selection panel that will recruit the next chair and commissioners of the electoral body.;
The newly appointed members of the election panel are set to be sworn in at 9 am Monday at the Supreme Court buildings.
The ceremony will be presided over by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
According to a gazette notice dated Monday, January 27, the members include Kiome Lindah Gakii, Oloo Adams, James Evans Misati, Nicodemus Kipchirchir Bore, Koki Muli Grignon, Carolene Kituku, Tanui Andrew Kipkoech, Nelson Makanda and Fatuma Saman.
The panel will be responsible for the recruitment of
nominees for appointment as the chairperson and members of the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The appointment follows a court decision on January 24, which set aside orders blocking the appointment of the selection panel.
Kiambu High Court Judge Dora Chepkwony dismissed a petition filed in 2024, challenging the list on grounds that persons with disabilities had not been considered for the selection panel.
The petitioner, Boniface Njogu, also submitted that
the list was not balanced as the majority are from the Kamba and Kalenjin regions.
“In a country of more than 42 Communities it
is absurd that four nominees from the list (Caroline Kituku, Amb. Dr Koki Muli,
Andrew Tanui Kipkoech and Nicodemus Bore Kipchichir) would come from the same
region or community; The list does not adhere to regional/ ethnic balance on
such a critical national process and it flies on the face of Article 10 of the
Constitution,” he argued.
In her decision, however, Justice Chepkwony dismissed
the petition stating that Njogu had failed to prove that there were constitutional
and statutory violations in the appointments.
“The petitioner has advanced
insufficient evidence to warrant the recruitment process be deemed to have
violated the constitution,” the judge said.
Justice Chepkwony also dismissed
a petition challenging Azimio la Umoja’s nomination process, saying the claim
that the coalition failed to conduct a competitive and open recruitment exercise
could not be substantiated.
