- As a country we must, however, be proud of the electoral milestones we have achieved so far.
- There is no other country in Africa that has transformed and greatly modernised its election management system in such a short span the way we have.
Image: SHARON MWENDE
The process of recruiting new commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is on course. The men and women who will steer the electoral agency are supposed to be in office in good time to start planning and preparing for the impending 2027 general election.
In the event of a by-election before the next election, the new commissioners will be taxed to administer it. The new commissioners will also handle the arduous task of implementing key electoral reforms at the IEBC to make the commission more responsive in conducting the business of elections.
As was expected, the recruitment process is already facing artificial barricades with various stakeholders, particularly political parties who are the main clients of the commission, pulling strings to have a say in the process.
Civil society groups have also raised their voices and are keenly monitoring the process. As a democrat, and a leader of a political party, I hold on to a firm belief that the recruitment of the commissioners, just like any other selection process into public office, must be above board.
That is, the process must strictly adhere to the constitution and the law and uphold the principle of transparency. Giving stakeholders a voice in the selection of new commissioners is quite important but we must be careful not to repeat costly past mistakes.
This is because some individuals have misused and abused that privilege by sneaking in and lobbying for their preferred candidates to be in the commission with the hope of the said candidates returning favours during elections.
The end result has been a divided commission where each commissioner strives to do the bidding of its benefactors. At times the functionality of the commission has been severely hampered through sabotage by some of its commissioners. This phenomenon has be the greatest obstacle to a free, fair, transparent and verifiable election in Kenya leading to disputed elections every election cycle.
In 2007-8 the country descended into anarchy after the presidential election results were disputed. In that election, Raila Odinga contested against the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.
Raila claimed his victory was snatched from him in broad daylight. The then Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman Samuel Kivuitu announced Kibaki as the winner and he was immediately sworn into office at dusk.
Kivuitu would later say publicly that he had no iota of clue who won the 2007 presidential election. History has been repeating itself even after several reforms.
Some of these include a change of the name of the commission, a shift in the mode of the appointments of commissioners and the commission secretariat, as well as an amalgamation of information technology infrastructure into the election architecture to improve transparency and the integrity of the process were instituted.
In 2013 the Isaac Hassan commission faced the same horror.
Wafula Chebukati also passed through the same guillotine.
As a country we must, however, be proud of the electoral milestones we have achieved so far. I don’t think there is any other country in Africa that has transformed and greatly modernised its election management system in such a short span the way we have. The transformation has been critical in cementing trust in the commission, even though there are still a lot of issues to be dealt with.
Nevertheless, if there is one lesson improving our election management system has taught us, it is that no matter how well-organised and impermeable the process is, the human factor is still a vital component of a free, fair and transparent election.
We can have the best technology in the world and make our electoral process as efficient as it can get but if we don’t have men and women of integrity at the helm, then the heavy investment in technology will count for goose egg.
The 2022 presidential election is an important reference point. It is undeniable that the IEBC executed one of the best technologically-managed election in the country. For the first time, the results could easily be accessed remotely. Various candidates and their agents had access to the electoral commission's server where they downloaded results forms and collated results.
Regardless of the efficacy of the electoral agency's processes and transparency, hell broke loose when the sharp division within the commission reared its ugly in public.
Four commissioners led by Juliana Cherera disowned the official results declared by their chairman Chebukati and cast aspersions on election results. This became fodder for Azimio coalition that had earlier claimed that IEBC was doctoring results in cahoots with Kenya Kwanza, a baseless claim that they were unable to prove.
The dispute ended in court where the commission and its chairman successfully defended the results they declared. The rest is history. The division within the commission was a clear confirmation that a divided commission is a threat to democracy and integrity of elections.
Thus, as we recruit new commissioners efforts must be made to ensure that only men and women of integrity make it to the final list. We cannot afford to have a commission where commissioners serve their selfish interest as opposed to public interest.
A thorough background check should be made to ascertain that all the individuals selected to serve in the commission fit the bill, satisfy the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution and are unblemished. We must get it right or never.
The writer is MDG Party Leader and Ugenya MP