IEBC commissioners (from L) Abdi Guliye, Boaya Molu, Chairman Wafula Chebukati and Acting CEO Marjan Hussein when they appeared before the PAC to respond to the audit queries on November 27, 2018.
IEBC commissioners (from L) Abdi Guliye, Boaya Molu, Chairman Wafula Chebukati and Acting CEO Marjan Hussein when they appeared before the PAC to respond to the audit queries on November 27, 2018.
Image: COURTESY

 

A standoff is in the works between Deputy President William Ruto’s allies and those of ODM leader Raila Odinga on how to reform the IEBC.

The Ruto camp wants the Senate to proceed with legislating on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Amendment Bill, 2019 while Raila lieutenants want the bill shelved until the second public hearings of the BBI are completed.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, who chairs the Senate’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, claimed the BBI is a Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila affair which should not restrict parliamentary business.

His committee has completed a report on the bill passed last year in the National Assembly.

Opposition MPs wanted to introduce amendments to facilitate the firing of the three IEBC commissioners.

“As a Parliament, we have timelines which guide our business. BBI report is just but a proposal. It has been taken back to the people for further public hearings which will take more time,” Cherargei said in a phone interview.

“When the report is ready and is brought to Parliament in form of a bill or a motion, we will see how to incorporate those proposals,” he added.

But Senate deputy Minority leader Cleophas Malala said: “They will mark time to allow the BBI team to conclude its final report”.

The Kakamega senator said the opposition will stop any attempts to subvert the will of Kenyans as expressed in the BBI report.

“We have the BBI report now which should guide the IEBC reform process. We know some forces that are determined to frustrate this process initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga,” he said.

The BBI team said in its report unveiled last year in November that in order to enhance the capacity of IEBC to deliver free and fair elections, the remaining commissioners- Wafula Chebukati (chairman), Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu be removed and a new team constituted ahead of the 2022 polls.

Just days before the October 26, 2017 repeat election, commissioner Roselyn Akombe resigned and fled the country saying she had received death threats.

Commissioners Consolata Nkatha (vice-chairperson), Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat resigned in 2018 accusing Chebukati of failing to offer IEBC leadership.

The BBI report also proposes a three-year contract for the commissioners renewable once, qualifications for the chairmanship of IEBC to made open so that it is not a preserve for lawyers and that the IEBC chairperson should be anyone with at least 15 years experience at a senior management level.

ODM’s nominated Senator Judith Pareno said the aspirations of Kenyans as captured in BBI report should be given consideration in the bill before the Senate.