NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 – Opposition Leader Raila Odinga has issued a 14-day ultimatum for the President William Ruto administration to halt the ongoing process of appointing new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners.
Odinga has insisted that for the poll commissioners to be appointed a bi-partisan taskforce must be formed to engage in the process of filling the commissioners post in electoral body.
Failure to which, Odinga stated that they will stage mass demonstration across the country to agitate for implementation which will mark the commencement of the teargas demonstration that have characterized the opposition before every election.
“The ongoing process of reconstituting IEBC must stop immediately and a bi-partisan taskforce must be put in place to restructure IEBC in a manner that ends its monolithic operations,” Odinga stated.
This comes amidst plan to replace commissioners in the electoral body with President Ruto slated to appoint a seven-member panel that will select six individuals to fill vacancies at the electoral agency.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Act, 2023 came into force on opening the door for Ruto to form a panel for the purposes of appointing the chairperson and members of the IEBC.
President Ruto declared six vacancies at the IEBC, paving the way for the recruitment of new commissioners.
The new-look selection panel shall include two nominees- one man and one woman- from the Parliamentary Service Commission down from four in the repealed law.
The panel will also have one person nominated each by the Public Service Commission, the Political Parties Liaison Committee, the Law Society of Kenya and two persons- a man and a woman representing the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya.
In the prayer items , Odinga is also pushing the poll commission to open the election servers for audit which will be conducted by an independent firm.
“Servers must be opened and audited under the auspices of a reputable firm or an organization failure to which we shall lead the people to restore their authority and voice,” he said during prayers for the poll agency which was conducted today at Jeevanje gardens.
The Azimio La Umoja Leader revealed that hired private IT experts have been able to access the servers and unearth shocking revelations of the election theft that unfolded in the 2022 polls.
Odinga lost the last presidential election to President William Ruto by a narrow margin, but maintains that he won with 8.1M votes with the latter following closely with 5.9 million votes.
