• Kioni proposes that the IEBC be composed of a chairman and four members
• The chairman of Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee says the Bill addresses the lacuna in the law in terms of appointment of commissioners when a vacancy arises
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Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni has come up with a Bill that reduces the number of IEBC commissioners from seven to five.
Section five of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act, 2011 says there shall be a chairman and six other members.
Kioni's proposal is that the composition of the electoral and boundaries commission should be a chairman and four members.
The Ndaragwa MP, who is the chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee, says the Bill is to address the lacuna in the law in terms of appointment of commissioners when a vacancy arises.
“Paragraph two of the First Schedule of the Act does not provide for the subsequent appointment of commissioners,” he says.
His proposal also seeks to resolve obstacles that may hinder a boundaries review process.
The Bill seeks to amend the Fifth Schedule of the Act relating to the delimitation of boundaries of constituencies and wards.
Kioni says the second review of constituencies and wards ought to be done between 2020 and 2024.
Article 89 (2) of the Constitution says the IEBC shall review the names and boundaries at intervals of not less than eight years, and not more than 12 years.
The last review was in April-June 2012.
The lawmaker seeks to retain the appointment procedure.
The selection panel currently comprises representatives of the Parliamentary Service Commission, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Council of Churches, and Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims.
The National Muslim Leaders Forum and the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, and the Hindu Council of Kenya also have one slot each. Religious leaders are the majority.
To end the debacle over how long it should take before a vacant position is filled, Kioni proposes that the replacement be commenced at least six months prior to the lapse of the chairman or members’ terms.
The IEBC currently has a lean team of three commissioners after four resigned under different circumstances. The three are chairman Wafula Chebukati and commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye.
Roselyne Akombe left the agency days to the repeat 2017 presidential election and was followed days later by commissioners Paul Kurgat, Margaret Mwachanya, and vice-chairperson Consolata Nkatha.
There has been a call to fill the vacancies urgently amid debate that there is no quorum for major decisions such as a snap election or referendum.
Kioni is not alone in Parliament’s bid to reform the IEBC considering efforts by MPs William Cheptumo (Baringo North) and Jude Njomo (Kiambu).
Cheptumo has proposed to amend the Act to establish a selection panel, which denies the religious leaders the privilege of overseeing the filling of vacant positions.
He proposes that the panel should comprise of four people nominated by the Parliamentary Service Commission and seven other persons nominated by the Public Service Commission, the EACC, the LSK, the NGEC, the Attorney General, the KNCHR, and the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya.
Njomo’s effort is for the vacancies to be filled six months before the lapse of the term of the chairperson or member of the commission.
He seeks to amend the Act so that the president, with the approval of the National Assembly, appoints a selection panel of 11 persons - largely as spelt in the existing Act.
"There exists a vacuum in the mechanism of appointing members of the IEBC in case of a vacancy or lapse of the term of office of any member," Njomo says.
"After all the deliberations the proposals will be discussed by the JLAC, which I chair," Cheptumo said.