Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wa/FILEKiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wa has weighed in on the appointment of the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) bosses saying even though, in his view, the team falls short, it is better having them han none.
The comments followed the gazettement of new IEBC chair and commissioners by President William Ruto.
The High Court had ruled that the initial appointment via a gazette notice was unconstitutional.
“A bad IEBC is better than none! Tukutane kwa debe! (let's us meet at the ballot)” the Kiambu senator wrote in a post on X on Friday.
The IEBC has operated without a full team since the departure of the former chair Wafula Chebukati and commissioners Boya Molu, Abdi Guliye, and Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang’aya.
In Gazette Notice No. 9269, dated July 10, 2025, Ruto appointed Erastus Edung Ethekon as the new Chairperson of the IEBC for a six-year term.
In a separate Gazette Notice No. 9270, also dated July 10, 2025, Ruto named six individuals to serve as IEBC commissioners for a similar six-year term.
The appointees are Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol and Fahima Araphat Abdallah.
On July 10,2025, the High Court upheld the nomination of the IEBC chairperson and commissioners but ruled their appointment and gazettement by President Ruto unconstitutional.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Bahati Mwamuye, John Chigiti, and Roselyne Aburili found that the President violated conservatory orders issued by Justice Lawrence Mugambi by gazetting the nominees, rendering the appointments null and void.
The nominees, however, remained valid, but they could not take office until the process was properly formalised.
The court found no fault with the nomination process itself.
