Members of the electoral commission's selection panel have vowed to give Kenyans the best candidates to steer the 2017 General Election.
The eight members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel were sworn in by Chief Justice David Maraga as part of his first official duties in a ceremony witnessed by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi.
Credible elections
"The country is yearning for free, fair and credible elections. Our promise is that we will have the best men and women to conduct the next General Election through a transparent and professional recruitment process," said Bernadette Musundi on behalf of the panel.
Other members sworn in were Evans Monari, Mary Kigen, Tom Mbaluto, Ogla Karani, Peter Karanja, Abdulghafur El-Busaidy and David Oginde. The ninth member, Rajesh Rawal of the Hindu Council of Kenya, opted out of the panel.
Monari and Kigen were nominated by Jubilee while Mbaluto and Karani were CORD nominees.
Musundi represents the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and Karanja was picked by the National Council of Churches of Kenya.
El-Busaidy is from the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims while Oginde was nominated by the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya.
Their swearing in set the stage for reconstituting IEBC following the resignation of Issack Hassan and eight other commissioners.
Mr Maraga reminded the panel of their duty to ensure that the country had the best commissioners to oversee credible elections.
Under the new electoral laws, the selection panel has seven days to invite applications for the positions of chairman and commissioners to the IEBC.
They will consider the applications and publish the names of applicants shortlisted.
Two names
After the interviews, the selection panel will forward two names to President Uhuru Kenyatta for consideration for the chairman's position and nine names for consideration as commissioners.
The President will then select one candidate for chairman and six for commissioners.
