President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday declared the posts of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson and eight commissioners vacant.
Uhuru communicated the vacancies through a special gazette notice while at the same time expressing fears of a constitutional crisis for lack of other commissioners to immediately take office.
State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said the outgoing commissioners will now serve their notice period while in office, which is going to expire when incoming commissioners will be taking the oath of office.
A Joint Parliamentary Select Committee negotiated the commissioners’ exit, after a series of street protests by Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord).Cord leader Raila Odinga threatened to resume protests if the IEBC commissioners did not vacate office by October 10 even as he accused Jubilee Coalition of delay tactics.
As the first schedule of IEBC Act indicates, the next step in rejuvenation of the electoral body is for Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to convey to President Kenyatta, names of nine nominees of the selection panel, who will shortlist and interview candidates seeking to replace the commissioners.
The panel will consist of four persons—two men and two women—nominated by PSC, one person each, nominated by Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) and Hindu Council of Kenya (HCK).
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