Kenya will wait until the second week of December to get new commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. The search for the new team kicks off this morning with the advertisement of the vacancies. The recruitment calender runs until November 30.
“The panel will begin the shortlisting and publish the list of shortlisted candidates on or about November 15,” selection panel chairperson Bernadette Musundi said. The panel expects to interview shortlisted candidates in public between November 22 and 26.
The interview dates could vary depending on the number of applications received and shortlisted candidates.
On November 30, the team will present two names for chairperson and nine for commissioners to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Uhuru will have seven days to select a chairperson and six commissioners, then send the list to Parliament. The period within which Parliament should consider the names and approve or reject is not set, though there are mechanisms for reducing the duration to as low as two weeks.
After receiving the report from Parliament, the President will have another seven days to make the appointments. The commissioners will be sworn in shortly after. The recruitment of new commissioners was triggered by the resignation of the current ones, who had been under pressure to leave office.
Those who resigned, led by chairman Issack Hassan, will conduct their last elections during this week’s four by-elections for MCAs. The by-elections are scheduled for Wednesday in Sala ward (Tana River), Mosiro ward (Kajiado), Nyacheki ward (Kisii) and Kalokol ward in Turkana.
The current commissioners will also continue with the preparations for the 2017 election despite protests by the opposition. Some of the activities lined up include auditing the voter register and procurement of electoral technology gadgets, which must be done by the first week of December.