Getting it right in next election starts now

Law Society of Kenya chair Isaac Edwin Nicholas Okero PHOTO: COURTESY

After much toing and froing and eleventh-hour posturing, the commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have agreed to go home.

They extract on their way out gilt-edged retirement packages and possible insulation from future prosecution.

Odd that they would seek that insulation given that they consistently claimed innocence and a willingness to face due process.

Their exit brings to close months of high tension political drama, as first the Opposition and eventually virtually all sectors of Kenya’s society expressed no trust in the commission and demanded its exit.

Their recalcitrance led to the weekly and disruptive anti-IEBC protests and, the heavy-handed mismanagement thereof by the police that tragically claimed lives and left scores injured.

As Kenya contemplates a reconstituted IEBC, there are certain minimums the nation must insist on.

These minimums include a far higher standard of professionalism than was exhibited by the outgoing team and strict application to IEBC commissioners of Chapter Six of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity.

CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES

A report of the committee of the Law Society of Kenya on the conduct of the 2013 General Election revealed a litany of failures on the part of IEBC.

The report that also made recommendations for better management of the electoral process was delivered to the commission in January 2016 and appears to have been promptly archived.

These recommendations remain relevant today.

Amendments to the electoral legal framework remain necessary and should be in place not later than six months to the date of the election.

The law must promote the constitutional principles that demand elections be free, fair, transparent, verifiable and accountable.

It must also enfranchise all Kenyans including those in lawful custody and members of the diaspora living outside the country.

Strict adherence to electoral laws and the discharge of responsibilities imposed upon the IEBC particularly in relation to the management of political party primaries and the nomination lists must not be permitted to be treated as optional or variable by the commission.

Voter education must be undertaken on a continuous basis by the IEBC.

Voter registration and the updating of a single voters’ register available for public inspection must be done continuously and transparently.

The voters’ register must be and be seen to be the principal register recognised under the Constitution and the Elections Act, 2011 and no additional variants or permutations thereof.

Publication of the voters’ register must be done within the timelines stipulated by the law. Any delay of this duty immediately compromises public confidence and places in doubt the integrity of any election conducted.

Procurement and distribution of critical election equipment must be done in compliance with procurement laws.

Equipment should be supplied from competent sources, comprehensive testing undertaken and IEBC staff properly trained.

All this must publicly and demonstrably be in place well in advance of the election.

The Constitution’s Chapter Six requires that commissioners of the IEBC be selected on the basis of personal integrity, competence, and suitability and then to make decisions in a manner that is objective and impartial and not influenced by nepotism, favoritism or other improper motives or corrupt practices.

They must serve selflessly, with discipline and commitment in the public interest and be demonstrably honest in the execution of their public duties and declare any personal interest that may conflict with their duties.

They must remain accountable to the public for all their decisions and actions.

They must exercise their authority by serving the people in a manner consistent with the purposes and objects of the Constitution.

The commissioners must also exhibit demonstrable respect for the people, bringing honour to the nation and dignity to the office, and promoting confidence in the integrity of the office.

This is the high standard imposed by Chapter Six, on which there can be no prevarication.

Prospective commissioners must achieve this standard and remain subject to it throughout their terms.

The commissioners must also expressly agree as we all must now recognise that this standard cannot continue to be qualified by the presumption of innocence or the requirement of a forensic finding of guilt or liability.

Such qualifications negate the standard completely.

One should not be entitled to plead “but who’s goat have I eaten”, when one secured their exalted position by presenting themselves as a vegetarian.