IEBC faces ups, downs but with light at the end of the tunnel

By Stephen Makabila

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) under chairmanship of Issack Hassan had its share of highs and lows throughout the year, as it prepared for the March 4 General Election.

Its challenges included financial constraints, the controversy around procurement of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, and provision of civic education.

Civic education was deemed a key tool to encourage and attract voters to exercise their rights especially in areas like the Coast, where members of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), started an anti-voting campaign.

And by the time the voter registration closed in December, the commission had pulled all stops to try meet the 18 million fresh voter registration target, but enlisted 14.3 million, still a respectable figure in the circumstances.

January: Preparation begins

In January, the IEBC kicked off its election preparation. But the date when Kenyans were to vote remained unknown following a court ruling on a case seeking interpretation of the date of first General Election under the new Constitution. It gave two options. Judges Isaac Lenaola, David Majanja and Mumbi Ngugi, sitting as a Constitutional Court, delivered the landmark ruling.

They ruled: “The General Election can only be held in 2012 if President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agree, in writing, to dissolve the Grand Coalition Government. This would be within 60 days after the principals agree to terminate the National Accord that holds the coalition parties, PNU and ODM, together.”

The other option, the judges ruled, “would have Kenyans go to the polls in 2013 after the expiry of the Tenth Parliament. This would be within 60 days after the House first sat on January 15, 2008.” The judges also ruled that the IEBC has to be the body to determine the exact date. It was on this basis March 4 was set.

February:  Calls on PM and President to dissolve the coalition

On February 9, IEBC called on Kibaki and Raila Odinga to dissolve the coalition by October to pave way for a December poll. Hassan, who spoke after handing over a revised report on delimitation of boundaries to the parliamentary Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, said the two had to break their silence on the next polls date so that the country can make adequate preparation. 

“It is now up to the principals to help the country and avoid the suspense because it is now unnecessary suspense. They need to come out very clearly and tell us when they intend to dissolve the coalition so that people can start preparing for elections,” he said.

March: Election date announced

This was the month when IEBC finally announced that the General Election would be held on March 4.

Hassan said that his commission was “compelled” to set the March 4 date since Kibaki and Raila had failed to agree on a date as set out in a court ruling. He said before setting the date, the IEBC had consulted widely including approaching the principals with a view to them agreeing, in writing, to dissolve the Coalition Government and precipitate an election within 60 days.

May: Reviewing and budgets

On May 16, the IEBC reviewed its earlier proposed election budget downwards from Sh41 billion to Sh31 billion. While appearing before the Parliamentary Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, the commission said it had excluded the Sh5 billion it had set aside for the presidential run-off as well as reduced legal and voter education costs. Chief Executive James Oswago noted that the cost of holding the polls was high because almost everything had to be done from scratch given this was the first time the country was undertaking such complex elections.

June: Quest for more resources

On June 11, The IEBC indicated it was seeking to borrow resources from countries within the East African Community (EAC) region to reduce its budget and work within the Sh17.5 billion limit allocated by the Treasury.  “We are going to share experiences on campaign finance regulations on how to engage with our stakeholders and more importantly on how to make sure that we support each other as Electoral Management Boards in the region to reduce the cost of elections,” he said.

On June 23, donors gave Kenya US$26m (about Sh2.2 billion) to help finance next year’s elections.

August: The drama over BVR

On August 2, the IEBC made it known to Kenyans that it had terminated the process of acquiring the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits. This was in reaction to the massive controversy that followed the initial process. However, the Cabinet threw its weight behind BVR.

Ultimately fresh registration kits were acquired from a different source but still in circumstances that continued raising questions. Initial indications were that the registration kits would be delivered from Canada in a Government-to-Government grant, but later there were indications that this was a commercial deal that involved Canadian and French companies.

September: Public officers ‘can’t have their cake and eat it’

At the start of September, the IEBC announced that public officers intending to contest must have resigned by September 4.

On September 17, the IEBC conducted successful parliamentary by-elections in Ndhiwa, Kajiado North, and Kangema constituencies an in 15 other civic wards. By end of September, uncertainty was rising over whether the IEBC would meet the set poll timetable and ensure a credible General Election.

The commission raced against time to beat the deadlines due to delay in acquisition of BVR kits.  The agreement for sale and purchase of BVR hardware and software between Canadian Commercial Corporation and IEBC/Treasury was signed on September 24.

October: Voter education starts

October was a busy month for the IEBC. On October 1, it launched four voter education handbooks to guide the public ahead of the March 4 elections. The publications included the Voter Education Curriculum, the Voter Education Training Manual, the Gender Guide for the Kenyan Constitution, and the Handbook on Elective Positions. The books were meant to promote awareness and understanding of voter rights, electoral systems, and processes.

On October 2, the IEBC kicked off what would appear a crash programme for the March 4 General Election. Key in the programme was the voter registration, which the commission then said would kick off on November 1 and close after 30 days.   On October 24, Kibaki and Raila met IEBC team as confusion over delivery of 15,000 Biometric Voter Registration kits deepened.

November: Voter registration postponed

The IEBC postpones the much-awaited voter registration to allow for the training of the registration clerks on how to use the Biometric Voter Registration kits. On November 18, Kibaki, who is preparing to hand over power, launches the IEBC voter registration.