Kenya became a multiparty state in 1992 following the repeal of Section 2(a) of the Constitution resulting in multiple parties with different ideologies in pursuit of democracy.
Fast forward to the year 2007-2008, Kenya underwent an unprecedented spate of violence forcing the African Union to pick the former UN SG the late Kofi Anan to lead peace talks.
He brokered a truce between retired late President Mwai Kibaki and former Premier Raila Odinga ending the post-election turmoil.
After the dust and ghosts of the 2007 deadly post-poll chaos settled, The Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) was formed.
This was upon the recommendation of the Independent Review Committee (IREC) popularly known as the Kriegler Commission.
Currently, PPLC has a membership of ninety registered political parties and is domiciled at the office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
PPLC brings together all fully registered political parties, the IEBC and the Registrar of Political Parties.
It creates a dialogue platform that aims at contributing to the consolidation and enhancement of democratic and political space in Kenya.
The parties fall into three broad political categories.
Those with representation in the Bicameral Parliament (National Assembly and Senate), those without representation in Parliament but have representation in various County Assemblies and those with no representation in either Parliament or any of the 47 County Assemblies.
There is a further categorization of political parties; those funded directly by the government through the Political Parties Fund and those that receive no direct financial support from the Government.
It is these parties that converged in Naivasha on March 15, 2023, to nominate by popular vote representatives to the IEBC Selection Recruitment Panel.
86 parties were present; 82 voted, 3 abstained and there was one spoilt vote.
Legally, all those parties that were present participated in a democratic process to nominate a representative to the panel, whether they voted, abstained or cast a spoilt vote.
The clamour, therefore, by a section of the political class that they have been sidelined in the process of nominating members to the IEBC commission is not only malicious but misleading and fallacious.
The proposal by President William Samoei Ruto that there shall be a "Bi-partisan approach" (Parliamentary) in regard to the constitution of the IEBC Selection panel however well-meaning, is discriminative.
Political parties and other stakeholders in Electoral processes and more so, the political parties that don’t subscribe to the ideologies and are not affiliated to the two major factions namely, Kenya Kwanza and Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya coalitions are clearly left out.
Remember that all these parties are members of the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) which by dint of amendment of the First Schedule to the IEBC ACT 2011, got one slot in the selection panel. The slot was filled by Mr Evans Misati who was nominated in Naivasha.
It is incumbent upon the leadership of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio to recognize the fact that the process of selecting commissioners of IEBC cannot be a two-man show.
Over 75 fully registered political parties that are non-aligned to the two formations have an equal right to be part of this process.
A Parliamentary process "Bi-partisan approach’’ as proposed by the President will create a scenario where the Executive will have unfettered powers over the next IEBC Commission.
This is because the president has a majority in Parliament. Any decision taken in the house will more than likely sway in his favour unless there is prior consensus by all parties which given the current temperament from both sides, will be a nearly impossible feat.
The Inter-Party Parliamentary Group (IPPG), the kind of structure that the Azimio leadership is clamouring for won’t be any better.
This will essentially be giving the two formations an opportunity to appoint a Selection Panel of their choice and by extension a Commission of their choice on a 50/50 basis.
This defeats the very essence of democracy when two rival political formations come together to share the spoils at the expense of the rest of the country and key political players in Electoral Processes.
This process again will provide for a very Partisan IEBC Commission.
It is not lost to any one of us and the country at large that partisanship was alive and thriving in the last Commission hence the reason we are looking at the recruitment of six Commissioners plus one Chairman whereas.
Recruitment ought to be for only two Commissioners and Chairman, had partisan interests not prevailed.
In the last General Elections, we saw the said Commission, so discordant and driven by partisan interests that treated the nation to what could only be called "a theatre of the absurd’’.
This left the country confused and unsure of the true outcome of the General elections and in particular, the Presidential elections up until the Courts ruled on that.
It would be a tragedy of unimaginable proportions if the two antagonistic formations with obvious partisan interests are left to decide on who the next arbiter of the elections will be at the exclusion of the other parties.
It is worth remembering that PPLC was formed for the very purpose of offering a dialogue platform and hence the need to have it at the table to offer a middle ground on behalf of all political parties not affiliated with Kenya Kwanza and Azimio.
The solution to this quagmire is simple. Let’s have a representative panel in which all key stakeholders in Electoral processes will be represented.
As the former Chairman of the Selection Panel that recruited the first IEBC Commission after it rebranded from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) Dr Ekuru Aukot said in 2011, "we will never satisfy everyone”.
In the interest of offering the country a solution to the deadlock occasioned by the hardline stands from the Kenya Kwanza and Azimio coalitions, Parliament can again amend the First Schedule to the IEBC ACT 2011 as follows:
Parliament can cede one position from the Parliamentary Service Commission slots to PPLC so that we can have two PPLC positions in the Selection Panel.
In this scenario, Azimio will be given one position for them to fill while the current nominee remains in his previous position to represent other parties.
In the interest of peace, the Inter-Religious groups can be persuaded to allow Azimio to propose one representative of their choice to represent religious groups.
In essence, the opposition (Azimio) will have two (2) direct slots for them to nominate their representatives in the IEBC Selection Panel, whilst the rest of the positions and nominees remain the same.
Alternatively, Parliament can amend the First Schedule to the IEBC ACT 2011 by expanding the size of the panel from 7 to 11.
This is to enable the opposition (now and in future) to nominate representatives to fill two of the new positions plus one PPLC position as proposed above and have one position allocated to civil society and one position to be filled by Eminent persons.
In essence, the opposition (Azimio) will have three (3) direct slots for them to nominate their representatives in the IEBC Selection Panel.
As national leaders, it is imperative that the leaderships of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio coalitions realize tha, adopting hardline stands when the stability of a nation is at stake is in itself an act of betrayal to the citizenry of this country.
They need to realize that their very actions are against the tenets of the constitution they ought to uphold without fear, discrimination or favour.
Let the Leaders show statesmanship by rising above partisan politics so as to allow reason and patriotism to prevail.
Andrew Njoroge,Executive Director/ National Treasurer, Thirdway Alliance Kenya Party.Organizing Secretary, Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC).