- Bigambo said the country may want to re-think the mechanisms of appointing top officials to the electoral body.
- In an interview with NTV on Monday, Bigambo said it is not only the IEBC that experiences political interference but almost all independent commissions.
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Governance expert Javas Bigambo has said there is too much political interference in the affairs of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
He said external forces have been interfering and puppeteering the work of the commission despite it being an independent body.
“I am not saying that politicians and the rest of the country should not be concerned with how the independent commission is run and managed,” he said.
Bigambo said the country may want to re-think the mechanisms of appointing top officials to the electoral body.
“If it is political parties nominating persons, can we agree that those picked should take oath office to serve the country and not be inclined the parties that sent them there,” he said.
“We also do not to populate the commission with religious leaders because being a man of God in itself is not a qualification.”
In an interview with NTV on Monday, Bigambo said it is not only the IEBC that experiences political interference but almost all independent commissions.
“People want to commandeer commissioners to do work outside the mandate that is given to them by the Constitution,” he said.
Parliament is set to start considering petitions seeking to kick out four IEBC commissioners who rejected the August 9 presidential election results.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has received four petitions against IEBC vice-chairperson Juliana Cherera and commissioners Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya, over their conduct during the election.
The four commissioners rejected the results saying they were arrived at by the electoral body chairman Wafula Chebukati in an opaque manner.
Article 251 of the Constitution states that Parliament will consider the petitions and if satisfied, the Speaker will send it to President William Ruto to form a tribunal to investigate the commissioners.
If the tribunal is formed, the concerned commissioners will be suspended and paid half-salary, pending the conclusion of the inquiry.
The President will have 30 days to act on the report after the tribunal makes its recommendation to him.
Justice and Legal Affairs Committee has scheduled hearings with four petitioners pushing for their removal starting Thursday.
Commissioners Cherera and Masit are lined up to face the committee on Monday, November 28, to respond to the petitions.
Wanderi and Nyang'aya will respond to the allegations touching on them on Tuesday, November 29.