Ruto signs IEBC Bill into law to guide hiring of new commissioners

President William Ruto has signed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) (Amendment) Bill into law.

The Bill, which was considered and passed by the Senate last week, sought to alter the composition of the Selection Panel that oversees the filling of vacant positions in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

The signing means the allocation of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) will reduce from the current four to two out of the seven members of the Panel.

It further allows the Political Parties Liaison Committee to each nominate one member to the Panel.

This translates to a Panel that will consist of one member each drawn from the Public Service Commission, Political Parties Liaison Committee, and the Law Society of Kenya.

The PSC and the Inter-religious Council of Kenya will each have two members.

IEBC commissioners

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati and Commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye retired on Tuesday, January 17 after the expiry of their six-year term as provided for in the Constitution.

Commissioners Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, and Francis Wanderi resigned in the wake of their suspension and formation of a tribunal to investigate their conduct in the August 9, 2022 General Election.

The tribunal has since kicked off hearings on the removal of Commissioner Irene Masit.

The panel will conduct the recruitment of IEBC commissioners following the retirement and resignation of the seven commissioners.

In his farewell message, outgoing chairman Wafula Chebukati called on the immediate reconstitution of the electoral commission and proposed that the process be completed two years before the general elections to give commissioners ample time to prepare.

Section 7A (2) of the IEBC Act provides that the President shall declare a vacancy in the commission within seven days of the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of the chairperson or a member of the commission.

Chebukati and the two other commissioners were appointed on January 18, 2017, seven months to the August 8, 2017 election.

“We had very limited time to understand the infrastructure of the election and the architecture of the commission. Additionally, the processes had been concluded and there was no time to make any major reviews or adjustments,” Chebukati said during his farewell ceremony.

According to the outgoing chairman, the commission should have commissioners at least two years to the poll to avoid the rush that could affect the outcome of the election.