President Ruto signs IEBC Bill 2022 into law
President William Ruto
has signed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill
2022 into law.
Consequently, the Head
of State is set to form a seven-member selection panel to recruit
the IEBC Chairperson and six commissioners.
The Bill was passed by the Senate on Thursday and sought to
alter the composition of the Selection Panel that oversees the filling of
vacant positions in the commission.
The positions were left vacant after the term of Chairperson
Wafula Chebukati and commissioners; Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye ended on Tuesday,
January 17 after serving for six years as provided for in the constitution.
The other 4 commissioners
Commissioners; Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyangáya and Francis Wanderi resigned in
the wake of their suspension and formation of a tribunal to investigate their
conduct in the August 9, 2022 General Election, while Irene Masit is still
battling charges facing her in the tribunal.
Signing of the bill into law means the allocation of the
Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) will reduce from the current four to two
out of the seven members of the panel.
Additionally, the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC), Public
Service Commission (PSC), and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) will each nominate
one member to the Panel.
The Parliamentary Service Commission and the Inter-religious
Council of Kenya will each have two members, a man and a woman.
For one to qualify as a member of the selection panel, they must be a
Kenyan citizen, meet the requirements of leadership and integrity as provided
for in the Chapter Six of the constitution, and have a degree from a university
recognized in Kenya.
The Senate passed the bill without amendments after Justice and
Legal Affairs Committee Chairperson Hillary Sigei withdrew his proposed
amendments.
The committee had proposed to
reduce the number of slots given to the PSC in the selection panel from two to
one and increase those of the PPLC to two from one.
The Senators also rejected an
amendment by nominated Senator Catherine Mumma who intended to take away the
slot given to the PSC and donate it to the PPLC.
Now, Head of Public
Service Felix Koskey is expected to invite them to submit their nominees to the
panel so that the president can appoint them in a Gazette notice.
The panel will, upon inauguration, invite applications from
Kenyans who meet the requirements to be members of the seven-member commission.
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