Acting Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu (Third left) and Chief Registar Anne Amadi, pose for a photo with the newly sworn in six-member Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners selection panel, Dr Elizabeth Muli, Gideon Solonka, Awuor James Achoka, Elizabeth Odindo, Joseph Ngumi Mutie and Dr Suleiman Abdalla during the ceremony at Supreme Court, Nairobi, on Wednesday, April 28 2021 [David Njaaga, Standard]

The seven-member selection panel appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to recruit four commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has their work cut out.

The panel has seven days to advertise and invite applications from qualified persons and publish the names of all applicants and their qualifications in a gazette notice, two newspapers with national circulation, and on the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) website.

The PSC will provide technical support to the panel.

Once the deadline for the application has lapsed, they will consider the applicants, shortlist and interview them as per the Independent Electoral and Boundaries (IEBC) Act.

The team comprises Dr Elizabeth Muli, a commercial law lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Elizabeth Odundo Meyo, the commissioner for domestic taxes at the Kenya Revenue Authority, advocate Gideon Solonka, James Awori Achoka, Dorothy Kimengech, Rev Joseph Ngumbi Mutie and Farudin Suleiman Abdalla.

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The selection panel is expected to come up with the names of the chairperson and a vice-chairperson in their first sitting. There are already queries in and outside Parliament on the criteria used to pick the team.

Chief perpetrator

The IEBC Act 2019 spells out the nominating parties of the selection panel as PSC, Law Society of Kenya (LSK), and the Inter-religious Council of Kenya. LSK presented two names but the Council led by the chief executive Mercy Wambua’s pick Ms Kimengech prevailed. LSK president Nelson Havi had nominated Morris Kimuli.

“Doomed is a country where the President of the Republic is the chief perpetrator of violations of the constitution and impunity…I have done my part,” tweeted Havi referring to the president’s appointments.

Dr. Elizabeth Muli, a member of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners selection panel during her swearing-in ceremony in Nairobi. [David Njaaga, Standard]

He had said he will institute legal action if his nominee is not considered

Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma and the PSC chair  and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said it’s the Council that is supposed to submit a name and not the LSK president.

“Havi should have convened a council meeting. His actions to nominate a candidate without the council’s approval seeks to circumvent the law. He should have done the right thing,” said Kaluma.

The lawmaker also argued that the PSC was supposed to receive four names and not 12 as reported.

“The four names were shared between the Majority and Minority sides,” said Kaluma. “It is unfortunate if the House leaders submitted 12 names to PSC, which means cherry-picking and the political parties might not get the opportunity to have their best voice heard.”

The Amani National Coalition (ANC) Party has claimed that it was not involved in coming up with the two names, from the minority side. 

ANC secretary-general Ayub Savula said: “There was no competitive recruiting process.” The legislator also poked holes in the manner in which the ODM party chair, John Mbadi, picked the names. But Mbadi, who is also the Minority Leader in the National Assembly, termed the issues raised as “speculative.”