MPs approve bill on IEBC vacancies

The National Assembly's Budget and Appropriations Committee has approved the publication of a bill that if enacted into law, will provide a mechanism for recruitment of new electoral commissioners whenever vacancies arise.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Act has no such provision, making it difficult to fill the four vacancies at the commission.

Commissioner Roselyne Akombe resigned days before the repeat October 26, 2017 presidential election while vice chairperson Connie Nkatha Maina and commissioners Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat quit in April 2018.

Their resignations left only three commissioners in office- Chairman Wafula Chebukati, Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu.

IMPLICATIONS

The approval of the bill by the committee chaired by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah means it is headed to Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki for formalities, then to the Government Printer for publication.

It will be tabled in the House when MPs resume sitting on April 23 after their short recess.

The IEBC (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is sponsored by the House Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, which is chaired by Baringo North MP William Cheptumo.

It was sent to the budget committee for feasibility checks because it is a money bill so it will occasion an extra charge by the exchequer.

Mr Cheptumo, who drafted the bill, said it will address the legal lacuna that has existed at the commission once and for all.

“The consent of the budget committee means we are now awaiting its publication by the Government Printer ahead of its tabling in the House. It will ensure the IEBC functions like a machine,” Mr Cheptumo said on Thursday.

PERMANENT PANEL

If approved by MPs and signed by the President, the law will establish an 11-member selection panel, which shall be permanent.

Once constituted, the panel’s first order of business shall be to fill the vacancies at the IEBC following the resignation of four commissioners.

The team will advertise vacancies, shortlist candidates, conduct interviews and recommend successful people to the President for appointment.

It will draw membership from organisations including the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC), Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), Public Service Commission (PSC), Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) - which shall represent the private sector.

POLICY ISSUES

Serious policy issues await the commission. They include the delimitation of boundaries as well as preparations in case of a referendum and for the 2022 general election.

The three remaining IEBC commissioners are drafting a referendum law and have since had a number of sittings with the Justice committee.

“As a committee, it is our desire that the serious policy issues at the IEBC are not derailed just because commissioners have resigned and that the plenary has no quorum. The legal framework shall be self-propelling with clear timelines,” said Mr Cheptumo.

“These issues require a fully constituted commission, which requires the filling of the four vacancies.”

Smooth operations at the IEBC came into question when Ms Nkatha, Ms Mwachanya and Mr Kurgat resigned citing a strained working relationship with Mr Chebukati.

Dr Akombe said she did not believe the commission as constituted at the time, was ready for a credible, free and fair presidential election.

LEGAL ISSUE

The absence of the law has made it impossible for President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare vacant, the seats left by the commissioners, and activate the reconstitution process.

Although the IEBC Act provides that the quorum at the IEBC’s plenary shall be five members, questions on whether the commission as presently constituted can transact serious business have arisen.

However, because the Constitution provides that the membership within the commission, under Chapter 15 of the Constitution, shall be between five and nine, the three commissioners have been allowed to meet at the plenary and make serious policy decisions.

This is because the Constitution is superior and therefore supersedes the IEBC Act.