For politically legitimate regime, we must have electoral reforms

The debate on the status of the officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has not clearly interrogated the unintended consequences of the commission handling the coming elections.

While the opposition has opted for street protests to try to force out the office bearers, the ruling coalition at first insisted on legal procedures, but now seems to agree that the commission needs reform.

For their part, the IEBC commissioners’ decision to stay put and splash taxpayers cash on image consultants to salvage lost public trust points to cosmetic and belated measures for a problem that portends grave consequences for our country.

The most obvious consequence of the current IEBC conducting the next elections is that the declared poll winner would lack political legitimacy. Political legitimacy is the right to govern and the acceptance and recognition of the citizens of the reality of this fact.

In Kenya, elections are the only known means by which the winners get political authority to exercise the power to rule for five years. Free, fair, and transparent elections act as a source of legitimacy for the winners.

Crucially, the electoral process does not confer political legitimacy to the eventual winner merely by the margin of an electoral win, but often through the sufficient stockpile of credibility the electoral commission has with the public.

The sobering reality is that the IEBC lacks credibility and by the commission’s own admission, continues to suffer a haemorrhage of public trust.

In a functional democracy where conscience overrides the glamour of high office, the IEBC commissioners should have already resigned. The sins for which the commission is being accused such as corruption, incompetence, and perceived partiality are well documented.

RECIPE FOR CHAOS

The clergy, ordinarily the conscience of the nation, has warned that the commission as currently constituted is a recipe for chaos. The 2007/8 post-election crisis was preceded by doubts about the then commissions’ credibility. We must learn from history, especially when it is still fresh. If a suitable closure is not found on the IEBC’s fate, Kenyans must be prepared to shoulder the yoke of a political leadership lacking political legitimacy.

The most immediate symptom of lack of political legitimacy is the deployment of force in the context of popular agitation. On one hand, citizens might perceive violence as a corrective force while on the other, the newly “elected” political establishment, lacking legitimacy, might use more coercive means to exercise and announce its power. We should avoid this.

Also, a political dispensation that is the result of a discredited electoral commission is a nightmare both to itself and its citizens, especially in times of crisis.

Political systems having sufficient political legitimacy tend to be more resilient in periods of crises such as terrorism, economic strain, and other social-political tempests since they can count on their legitimate status to weather them.

Without political legitimacy, our post-2017 political leadership might not enjoy the fundamental conditions needed to formulate and implement policies effectively.

This is because political legitimacy allows a state to make decisions and commit resources without needing to necessarily beg approval from wananchi or resort to coercion.

With a perceived head-start in the coming elections largely occasioned by its status as an incumbent, the ruling Jubilee coalition should be at the vanguard of calls for the dissolution of the commission. This is especially so because the coalition’s top leadership was recently paraded in the International Criminal Court partly as a result of elections bungled by the previous electoral outfit. A discredited IEBC affects us all.

Certainly, the process of removing a commissioner is one messy job for which we do not have the luxury of time. The commissioners must do the needful so that Kenyans can elect a government whose political legitimacy is not in doubt.

Dr Omanga is the head of the Publishing and Media Studies Department at Moi University. [email protected].