Members of Parliament on Wednesday, April 24,2024, approved a Bill tabled at the National Assembly which seeks to make several reforms at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The IEBC (Amendment) Bill, 2024 underwent its second reading after the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) tabled its report in parliament approving the Bill while listing recommendations.
If passed, the Bill seeks to make several consequential amendments to the IEBC Act of 2011, aligning it to the Judgments of the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the 2022 General Elections.
The Court had in its ruling held that certain provisions of the Act were unconstitutional hence warranting a new Act to remedy the wrongs of the Elections.
National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Minority Party leader Opiyo Wandayi tabled the Bill before Parliament in 2023.
The Bill was one of nine Bills set to be considered as recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report.
Proposed IEBC Reforms
Among the proposal of the Bill outlined through required academic qualifications needed for persons to be appointed is including experience in Accounting or ICT technology.
The background should serve as additional professional qualifications for appointment as a member of the IEBC.
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“Clause 3 of the Bill seeks to amend section 6(2)(c) of the Act to include information and communications technology and accounting as some of the relevant professional qualifications to be taken into account when nominating persons to be appointed as members of the Commission,” read parts of the Bill.
Further, the Bill seeks to amend the number of members in the Selection Panel tasked with appointing the Commission to the IEBC.
In its part, it proposes raising the number of panelists from 7 to 9 to accommodate a wide spectrum of stakeholders and interest groups while at the same time making sure to meet the two thirds gender rule.
The new proposed composition of the selection panel outlines two persons nominated by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) representing the majority party or coalition of parties and the minority party or coalition of parties.
Additionally, the panel will also include three persons nominated by the Political Parties Liaison Committee of whom one shall be from a party other than a Parliamentary Party or coalition of parties.
On the other hand, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) and the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) will each be represented in the panel.
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LSK and ICPAK will have a representation of one member each while IRCK will see representation of two members.
Other proposals
At the same time, the Bill also spells out the roles and functions of the Commission and those of the CEO who is the Secretary to the Commission.
To address the shortcomings witnessed in the last General Election, the Bill proposes, that an audit of the election process be conducted one year after the conclusion of every election and the report tabled in Parliament and published in the Kenya Gazette.
A review of the conduct of the General Election is a sensitive evaluation process, pointing out what worked and what did not work, drawing out lessons learned for improvement of the conduct of future General Elections.
Further, the proposed Legislation also provides for the process of the delimitation of the electoral boundaries and the review of population quotas in constituencies and wards across the country to align them with population data before elections.
In its report, the Committee recommended for the CEO of the IEBC to serve for a non-renewable term of 6 years in the aim to ensure they effectively plan and carry out an election with competence and independence of role.
The Committee while highlighting the proper constitution of the board proposed the number of members required to meet quorum be set at 5.
Furthermore, it advised that where a unanimous decision is not met during decision making, a majority vote should prevail.
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