• There have been no IEBC commissioners at all since January 2023
• Electoral boundaries must be reviewed by March 2024 according to the 2010 Constitution
Appointment of new commissioners is long overdue at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The last constituency review was in March 2012. Constitutionally a new boundary review must happen by March 2024.
However, the IEBC has had no commissioners at all since chairman Wafula Chebukati, Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye retired in January. The other four commissioners quit after rejecting William Ruto's election as President in 2022.
The IEBC is therefore in limbo yet it has a constitutional obligation to review the boundaries of 290 constituencies in the next six months.
To make matters worse, the present dialogue between Kenya Kwanza and Azimio will also look at increasing the constituencies and having political involvement inside the IEBC. This will cause further delays yet both proposals are non-starters as they require constitutional reform.
The constitution specifies that no-one should work for the IEBC if they have been a member of a political party in the preceding five years, and there should be only 290 constituencies with voter numbers based pro rata on the share of population.
The bottom line is that the new IEBC commissioners need to be appointed immediately. Otherwise, Kenya risks a constitutional crisis.
Quote of the day: "Siasa mbaya, maisha mbaya."
Daniel arap Moi
The Kenyan President was born on September 2, 1924