Azimio, Kenya Kwanza team reach agreement on IEBC selection panel
Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka (left) confers with National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah during the National Dialogue Committee proceedings at Bomas of Kenya on September 28, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The National Dialogue Committee has been racking up agreements as its term nears completion.
- The team has reached a consensus on the creation of the Leader of Opposition and Prime Cabinet Secretary positions.
There will be a new team selecting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson and six commissioners following an agreement by the National Dialogue Committee on Friday.
The selection panel chaired by Dr Nelson Makanda appears to be headed for disbandment.
“We have come to an agreement that we shall have a reconstitution of the IEBC selection panel. And in this reconstitution, the membership of this IEBC selection panel is going to increase from the present seven to nine, of course encompassing various shades of opinion and interest groups and persons,” said National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi at a briefing with journalists after Friday’s sittings.
“Now, once this IEBC selection panel is reconstituted, it is going to embark, without any delay, on a fresh exercise of the selection of persons to be nominated as IEBC commissioners and the person to be appointed as IEBC chairperson. We expect that this exercise will commence the soonest possible once we table our report and if adopted by the house together with subsequent pieces of legislation,” he added.
An audit of the 2022 General Election is also on the cards. Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire, another member of the committee, announced that the audit framework will be created in the coming days.
“We’ve agreed that we develop a framework on the audit of the electoral process that is going to be done in the next two weeks. We should be able to have a clear framework about that,” said Ms Mbarire.
The talks team has been racking up agreements as its term nears completion. On Thursday, it announced that it had reached a consensus on the creation of the Leader of Opposition and Prime Cabinet Secretary positions.
In Friday’s briefing, the committee said its secretariat will, from the coming week, start documenting the agreements reached.
“Starting Monday, the technical teams and the secretariat will embark on making sure that all the issues that we have agreed upon are put in the necessary framework that we have approved and also synthesise whatever other issues that we may not have delved into yet,” said Ms Mbarire, adding that the 10-member talks team will be heading for a retreat from October 23.
At the same time, the dialogue committee co-chaired by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah is seeking a deadline extension.
“We are also requesting for an extension motion. As you are aware, our term comes to an end on October 28and in view of the work that awaits us, we are requesting the National Assembly and the Senate for an extension motion of another 30 days for this committee so that in case we are pressed by time, we are able to finish whatever it is that is remaining, because we feel we are now at the very last phase that is very critical and we must do a good job for this country. So, we’ll be requesting the two majority leaders to move motions for extension of the National Dialogue Committee,” said Ms Mbarire.
