The Kenya Human Rights Commission yesterday called on the IEBC commissioners to quit to allow talks on electoral reforms.
KHRC executive director George Kegoro said Kenya needs to have a conversation about the electoral system but that cannot free IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati and his team remain in office.
“Chebukati needs to tell the country when the commissioners will vacate office. It is only then that the country can have a conversation that is not tied down to jobs," Kegoro said.
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He said the resignation of IEBC bosses will also free the country to talk about the electoral body.
"The secretariat also needs to be reformed," Kegoro said.
He was speaking in Mombasa on the sidelines of the Kenyan Chapter of International Commission of Jurists conference on human rights in Africa.
Chebukati dismissed the call. Chebukati said they will not resign because KHRC's views
are not those of Kenyans.
“Commissioners didn’t just come into office. They were interviewed, brought in by virtue of the constitutional provisions,” Chebukati said.
He said the commission did a commendable job when it conducted two elections in three months.
“The Supreme Court, in its determination, confirmed that the election carried out on October 26 was done within the law,” Chebukati said.
Chebukati spoke separately in Mombasa yesterday. The two had attended the same conference.
Chebukati said they were focusing on strengthening the commission.
“We want to keep our eyes on the ball so that IEBC will be better placed to manage the next election,” Chebukati said.
He spoke separately on the sideline of the ICJ conference in Mombasa.
He said the commission and its commissioners are in office by virtue of the constitution and that they will vacate office under constitutional guidelines.
Kegoro said the conversation on how to move forward after the IEBC debacle over whether the two elections in August and October were free, fair and credible, will not be as free and honest as required if Chebukati and his team are at the helm.
“The country will need to sit down together to find a way forward. It is not up to any one individual to tell us the way forward,” said
He said the conversation should include how to manage the IEBC in future.
Kegoro noted there is a significant part of the country that is angry over how both elections were managed and will be demanding changes at IEBC.
He said Chebukati should now put in place a plan for what changes should happen at the IEBC.
“Basically they should put in place a transition plan. I think the country will need a long time to prepare for the next elections preferably without the current IEBC,” he noted.
“Chebukati and his group came in late. They faced challenging external context as they prepared for the elections. But they’ve also not always helped themselves in the way they have managed the internal terrain where they were in charge,” said Kegoro.
Chebukati said they are now focusing on strengthening the commission instead.
“We want to keep our eye on the ball….So that come the next election, IEBC will be better placed to manage the election,” said Chebukati.
He, however, acknowledged there is a need for reforms not only in the IEBC but also in the law.
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