Interviews for IEBC officials to begin Monday amid questions over candidates suitability
Four of the shortlisted candidates for IEBC chairperson (from left) Charles Nyachae, Anne Amadi, Joy Brenda Mdivo and Robert Asembo.
The long wait for a new electoral agency team is drawing closer with interviews for shortlisted candidates set to kick off Monday, even as the country waits on who will steer the 2027 polls.
The Dr Nelson Makanda-led selection panel has its work cut out to give the country a new chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as well as commissioners following the ugly exit of the “Cherera 4” in the aftermath of the acrimonious 2022 polls.
Two weeks ago, the panel shortlisted 11 individuals for the position of the chairperson to replace the late Wafula Chebukati, even as it faces mounting pressure to drop some candidates following petitions challenging their candidatures.
The eight male and three female candidates include former Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi and ex-chairperson of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Charles Nyachae.
Others are former deputy chief registrar of the Judiciary Francis Kakai Kissinger, Kenya Power Board Chairperson Joy Brenda Mdivo, ex-Turkana County Attorney Erastus Edung Ethekon, ex-Nairobi County Assembly Clerk Jacob Ngwele, lawyers Robert Akumu Asembo, Abdulqadir Lorut Ramadhan, Saul Simiyu Wasilwa, Lillian Wanjiku Manegene and Edward Katana Ngweywa, who is a person with disability.
In addition, the panel has shortlisted 105 men and women for the six vacant electoral body’s commissioner positions.
The month-long interviews will commence on March 24 and run through April 24, 2025 at the College of Insurance in South C, Nairobi.
Ms Amadi, Mr Nyachae, Mr Ramadhan and Mr Ngeywa will be the first to face the panel on Monday between 8.30am and 4.30pm.
They will be followed by Mr Ethekon, Mr Kissinger, Mr Ngwele and Ms Masinde-Mdivo on Tuesday before the panel wraps up the chairperson’s interviews with Ms Manegene, Mr Asembo, and Mr Wasilwa.
Objections
Ahead of the interviews, two lobbies have raised objections over Mr Nyachae’s and Ms Mdivo’s candidatures.
A petition lodged by Operation Linda Jamii claims the two are ineligible for the role due to their current public offices, which they have yet to relinquish, and potential conflicts of interest.
Mr Nyachae is currently the Chairperson of the Council of the Kenya School of Government, while Ms Mdivo is the chairperson of the Kenya Power Board and the head of the United Democratic Alliance party Electoral Disputes Resolution Committee.
Accordingly, the petitioners argue that by virtue of the two still holding State offices is in violation of Article 260 of the Constitution, which prohibits public officers from holding more than one State position simultaneously.
The lobby maintains that allowing politically affiliated individuals or those in State employment to take up positions within the IEBC, which is expected to oversee elections in a neutral manner, compromises the independence of the institution, undermining public trust in the electoral process.
The petition, filed at a High Court in Naivasha, has attracted interest from various legal and civil society organisations, including the Law Society of Kenya and Katiba Institute, both of which have been enjoined in the matter as interested parties.
The petitioners are seeking a court order barring the duo from participating in the scheduled interviews until the matter is resolved.
Further, a youth lobby group, the Kenya Youth Organisation, has also expressed reservations over Mr Nyachae’s suitability to replace Mr Chebukati.
The group raised concerns over Mr Nyachae’s professional history and previous engagements, claiming he “lacks a proven record of impartiality”, hence doubts over his impartiality.
Former Nairobi Roads and Transport county executive Mohamed Dagane leads the pack of the 105 candidates battling for the six commissioner positions.
Mr Dagane, a governance expert, boasts over 17 years of leadership and management experience spanning both the public and private sectors.
He served as a county executive committee member for Roads, Transport, and Public Works during Governor Mike Sonko's tenure.
He has also served in the health, environment, water, and national resources departments in a similar capacity. In addition, Mr Dagane has worked in the private sector and the NGO realm for several years.
“I possess a robust background in governance, corporate strategy, performance management, communications and project oversight, consistently driving improvements in team effectiveness and productivity,” said Mr Dagane.
The ex-City Hall CEC holds a Master of Arts (Governance and Ethics) degree from Mount Kenya University and a Bachelor of Science (Mass Communication) degree from Islamic University in Uganda.
President William Ruto had declared the seven positions vacant on February 14, 2023 and March 1, 2023 before the IEBC selection panel advertised the position on February 1, 2025, almost two years after the declaration of the vacancies.
The process began on March 1, 2023 but soon ran into headwinds facing a nearly two-year delay before resuming on January 27, 2025, when President Ruto appointed a new seven-member panel to oversee the recruitment.
Applications
On February 16, 2025, the Panel announced that it had received 1,848 applications for both the chairperson and Commissioner positions.
The positions became vacant on January 16, 2023, following the exit of Mr Chebukati and Commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu, whose six-year terms had expired.
Meanwhile, former Vice Chair Juliana Cherera and Commissioners Irene Masit, Justus Nyang’aya, and Francis Wanderi were dismissed from the commission after disputing the 2022 presidential election results.