• The President will receive four nominees from the Parliamentary Service Commission, one from the Law Society of Kenya and two from Inter- Religious Council of Kenya.
• The Attorney General Paul Kariuki is on Thursday expected to publish IEBC (Amendment) , 2019 Act in the Kenya Gazette.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is any time now expected to trigger the nomination of individuals to sit on the panel that will interview IEBC commissioners.
On Wednesday last week, the President signed into law the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2019, paving the way for filling of the five vacant positions at the electoral body.
The President will receive four nominees from the Parliamentary Service Commission, one from the Law Society of Kenya and two from Inter-Religious Council of Kenya.
The PSC nominees will be two men and two women representing parliamentary parties. According to a State House source, Attorney General Paul Kariuki, in line with the Constitution, is on Thursday expected to publish the Act in the Kenya Gazette.
“A Bill passed by Parliament and assented to by the President shall be published in the gazette as an Act of Parliament within seven days after assent,” Article 116 0f the Constitution says.
Once it is published, the Act will come into force on the 14th day.
Former Justice and Legal Affairs chairman in the National Assembly William Cheptumo said the process will be clouded with suspicion as political parties now have a say on who sits on the panel.
“The initial idea was for PSC to nominate individuals without giving consideration to political affiliation. But now the parties, which are under the control of some people, will nominate.
"This is dangerous for our democracy and credibility of the next commission. It will be the beginning of problems,” he told the Star by phone.
For almost two years, the IEBC has been operating with only three commissioners out of the maximum seven. It also has had no substantive CEO.
The chairman is Wafula Chebukati, who sits with commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye. They were left standing after the resignation of colleagues Roselyn Akombe, Paul Kurgat, Margaret Mwachanya and Connie Maina.
Akombe resigned days before the repeat of the presidential election on October 26, 2017. Vice-chairperson Maina, Mwachanya and Kurgat quit in April 2018.
Soy MP Caleb Kositany said leaders should stop pushing for changes at IEBC after every election.
The close ally of Deputy President William Ruto said leaders should give independent institutions like the IEBC the space they need to effectively carry out their mandate.
“Leaders have to stop this habit of demanding changes at the IEBC after every (general) election especially when they lose and refuse to accept the results. We should not think that if certain people are in charge, we would have been announced winner,” he said.
He said the IEBC is not a voter, its role being to oversee and conduct an election.
Kositany maintained that it should not matter to politicians who sits at the IEBC. “Politicians should be more concerned with their popularity amongst voters and how they carry out their campaigns.”
He noted that the Krigler Report said the country should never make changes to the electoral body two years before polls. “We are less than two years to elections but some leaders are still insisting on changes to the IEBC.”
The Building Bridges Initiative report launched on Monday last week has recommended a total overhaul of the electoral agency with the secretarial staff undergoing fresh vetting ahead of the 2022 general elections.
The BBI task force said that political parties should have a say on who becomes commissioners, a recommendation now rejected by DP Ruto and ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi.
Mathare MP Anthony Oluoch said leaders are not calling for the overhaul of the electoral body.
“The BBI is saying commissioners will be vetted afresh. If they pass, they will continue with their work,” he explained and lauded the BBI proposal to have a four-year tenure for the IEBC leadership.
“This cures the problem of people going to the IEBC and have entrenched positions - people who end up thinking they are IEBC and IEBC is them. You conduct one election and go home,” he said.
ODM leader Raila Odinga recently expressed outrage over IEBC's referendum budget of Sh14 billion, and called for the commission's disbandment.
He said the high cost was a confirmation that those in charge at the electoral body use elections to enrich themselves.
Raila said the referendum should not cost more than Sh2 billion.
- mwaniki fm