Kenya to Get New IEBC Commissioners in 85 Days – Selection Panel

Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Selection Panel have vowed to have a chairperson and commissioners in place in less than three months.

On Friday, January 31, the newly-appointed panel made strides by electing Dr Nelson Makanda as the chairperson, while Lindah Kiome was elected as the vice chairperson of the panel.

The duo’s election came just days after members of the selection panel took and subscribed to the oath of affirmation of office before the Chief Justice.

In a statement on Monday, the selection panel revealed that under the stewardship of Makanda, they intended to end the uncertainty surrounding the commission in the next 85 days.

“For the next 85 days or less, we, as the Selection Panel, have undertaken to ensure that we deliver on our mandate of giving Kenyans the next chairperson and members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” Makanda stated in the notice on Friday.

As per the IEBC Act, the selection panel is obligated to invite applications from qualified persons to apply for the commissioners’ job. Names of all applicants and their qualifications are subsequently expected to be published in the Gazette, two newspapers of national circulation, and the Parliamentary Service Commission website.

While promising to consistently give media updates on the panel’s activities, Makanda also encouraged qualified Kenyans to send in applications.

“I also want to take this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to the media for the support they have given the Panel, it is through the 4th Estate that the public can hold us to account as we dispense our duty,” Makanda added. 

If the selection panel’s projections are anything to go by, Kenyans can expect to have a fully functional electoral agency by May 2025.

This will come as a sigh of relief, particularly for residents of eight wards across the country, including Kisa East Ward in Kakamega, Chewani Ward in Tana River, and Nyamaiya Ward in Nyamira.

Residents of these wards have been surviving without a Member of the County Assembly since no gazette notices can be issued to facilitate the conduct of by-elections without commissioners. According to the Attorney General, this would be a gross violation of the Constitution.

Another critical IEBC mandate—boundary delimitation—has also been put on hold due to the lack of commissioners, with the last boundary review being completed in March 2012. The next review was supposed to take place a decade later, in 2022, but that is yet to happen.