A showdown looms between the government and the opposition, amid claims the state is pushing for the disbandment of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
Officials within Cord claim two IEBC commissioners have confided in the opposition that some Jubilee leaders have made an about-turn and offered the Isaack Hassan team Sh25 million each to leave office.
However, the commissioners reportedly said no.
ODM director of Elections Junet Mohamed said he is aware of the deal and warned that a plot to unilaterally push out the commissioners and bring in another allegedly Jubilee-friendly team would be “a recipe for chaos”.
“I am aware that IEBC commissioners have been offered Sh25 million each to leave office as a plan for Jubilee to control the formation of the next commission and stuff it with their sympathisers,” he told the Star yesterday.
However, Cord, led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, insists, irrespective of how the beleaguered commissioners quit office, they must be at the centre of the IEBC’s reconstitution.
The term of the current IEBC bosses officially ends on November 9, 2017 – three months after the August 8 General Election.
Sources said some Jubilee insiders have approached Raila to endorse the plan since he has been at the forefront of championing the IEBC’s disbandment.
However, Raila is said to have developed cold feet, amid fears that Jubilee could use its ‘tyranny of numbers’ factor in the bicameral Parliament to shortchange him in the appointment of the new team.
“The opposition is demanding that whether the commissioners vacate office through legal means or coercion, we must be involved in the selection of new commissioners. We don't want a replica of 2007, when the President [Mwai Kibaki] appointed new commissioners on the eve of the election,” Junet, a close Raila confidant, said.
However, both Hassan and Attorney Githu Muigai have denied the allegations.
The Cord brigade insists the new electoral team should be chosen by the political parties in order of their numerical strength in Parliament.
If that were to happen, TNA, URP, ODM, Wiper, UDF, Ford Kenya and New Ford Kenya would each nominate a person to serve on the commission.
The Cord proposal is similar to the 1997 election’s Inter-Party Parliamentary Group pact, which was part of minimum reforms whereby Kanu, DP, Ford Kenya, Ford Asili and Safina each nominated a person to serve on the now-defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya.
The opposition came up with the IPPG pact, which, though not anchored on any law, was meant to reduce President Daniel arap Moi’s influence in the appointment of ECK commissioners.
The arrangement ended before the 2007 General Election, when Moi’s successor, Kibaki, single-handedly picked commissioners to the ECK. The post-election violence that rocked the country when the presidential results were disputed happened in an atmosphere of mistrust.
Last month, the Ombudsman – a state-funded agency – advised the IEBC commissioners to allow a new team to conduct the 2017 elections.
In a statement signed by chairman Otiende Amollo, the Ombudsman argued the expiry of the IEBC's term conflicts with the election cycle and this may plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.