Amongst the key processes already hurt by the delays and tussling over composing a new commission include boundary delimitation and the IEBC reforms informed by last year’s election experience.
Kenya National Civil Society Centre executive director Suba Churchill said the agency should immediately after reviewing last year’s polls and embark on preparations for the next election.
“IEBC should be on continuous and endless circle, at no time should there be a break and any long break that requires the presence and decisions of the commission are already in jeopardy. IEBC after elections should begin preparations for the next elections,” Suba said.
“The standoff and the stalling of the bipartisan talks will go a long way in putting in jeopardy some of those processes.”
An earlier process to recruit the new IEBC chiefs through the selection panel has been on a slow motion since the start of the bipartisan talks that had listed the reconstitution of the commission as one of its agenda items.
The seven-member panel is chaired by Nelson Makanda.
The Star has established that even though the panel has been conducting regular meetings sometimes virtually, they have hardly gone past the shortlisting of the candidates.
“We have been having our meetings as we observe what is happening at the talks, we have been stuck at the shortlisting even though there is a feeling that we need to readvertise some of the positions but everything is in abeyance as we waited for the outcome of the talks,” a source at the panel told the Star on Thursday.
The opposition has however rejected the Makanda-led panel and demanded an all inclusive process.
The 30-day deadline within which the bipartisan committee was to conclude identified pressing issues included IEBC elapsed this week days after teams in the talks disagreed on Azimio push to have the panel suspend the process for a month.
Now with the collapsed talks, experts are now warning that the country is on the edge and unless urgent action is taken then the cycle of elections preparedness will hugely suffer.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula last week waded into the matter, urging the joint committee members to prioritise the interests of the nation above any other considerations when addressing the presented matters.
He urged the minority and majority leadership in the House to expedite the formalisation of the committee reiterating commitment to support the joint team in realising its mandate.
“Upon the joint resolution by the houses, we shall authorise the respective clerks of the houses to provide the committee with a secretariat and any necessary logistical support, similar to every other committee of Parliament, to ensure the effective discharge of its mandate.” Wetang’ula said in a communication to the house.
The committee co-chaired by Tharaka MP George Murugara from the majority party and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo from the minority party has however suspended the talks indefinitely.
There has been growing fear that should the panel continue and fill in the vacancies, next elections may follow a similar trend where stakeholders lose confidence in the commission followed by a rejection of the polls outcome.
The ‘unilateral’ decision may also see another push and pull to remove the commissioners from the office, a pattern that has now followed the last four elections.
Elections Observation Group national coordinator Mulle Musau on Thursday told the Star that key processes necessary for the 2027 elections are already behind schedule putting the country in limbo.
“We established our IEBC as a permanent institution because we expect that there are ongoing activities which include voter registration, voter education, these are continuous by law,” Mulle said.
“As things stands the commission is in law, we cannot move much without the commission in place.”
Elog is a coalition of civil society, faith-based organisations and other key stakeholders aimed at reclaiming and entrenching a culture of electoral integrity.
“We have the current reform discussion; IEBC by now should be in the process of production of bills to be debated in Parliament based on the evaluation, assessment and evaluation of the last election,” Mulle said.
“If they delay theses electoral reforms then what they will do is the normal things we always do, last minute we start running around, our projections was that this was the year they (commissioners) sit down with stakeholders, get deep dive on some of the electoral reforms that need to be discussed, processed them into bills and share them with Parliament.”
“Next year we should agreements about what needs to be changed and passing some of these laws so that we can have a better electoral environment.”
Even though the returning officers can conduct the by-elections, election experts are however advising that the commissioners should be in office to give guidance.
Currently, the commission is expected to conduct a by-election at Banisa constituency to replaceKullow Maalim Hassan who died in March.
Kenya Kwanza lead negotiator George Murugara also agreed on the urgency to fill the vacant positions at the electoral agency, saying his side is ready for engagement to bring the matter to a closure.
“We cannot afford to have IEBC without commissioners any longer,” Murugara said.
According to Mulle, the push and pull on the hiring of the electoral chiefs may also eat into the calendar of the boundaries delimitation, another key mandate of the Commission.
“Among the critical issues IEBC needs to take care of with the commissioners are boundary delimitation whose exact date is ending on March next year not December,” Mulle said.
“People think of 2024 and they think December, it is not December. The business should be finished in the first quarter of 2024. Secretariat cannot engage in such a process. That is a big issue.”
According to Churchill, the commission should by now engaged stakeholders and various interests to ensure a smooth boundary review process.
“Definitely the boundary review is overdue, there is timeline and you know how controversial it can be. IEBC has to negotiate with different stakeholders and interest, possibly renaming some of them and relocating some sections of either wards and constituencies ensuring they stay within the limit of 290,” Churchil said.
