By Silas Apollo
The selection panel of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has said that it expects to complete interviews of candidates for the position of IEBC chairperson and six commissioners by May.
The panel’s chairperson, Dr Nelson Makanda, said the interviews are expected to begin in earnest following a successful shortlisting of candidates.
Dr Makanda said that the panel is expected, soon after the completion of the interviews, to retreat to identify two names of successful candidates for the position of Chairperson and other nine for the six Commissioners. The names will then be presented to the President in early June.
Should the President approve the names, they will be presented to Parliament for approval before being returned to the Head of State for appointment.
“Once the President appoints the new Chairperson and six Commissioners to fill the vacant positions, the Panel will be disbanded,” said Dr Makanda.
Dr Makanda made the statements even as the panel said it had already initiated plans to publish the names of persons shortlisted for the IEBC positions in the local dailies.
The shortlist of applicants will also be published in the Kenya Gazette and on the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) website.
“The Panel is through with preparation of the long listing of the applications and crosschecking for applicants with multiple applications through both physical and electronic submissions,” he said.
The publication of the name will allow public members to submit memoranda to the Panel on any information of interest concerning the suitability of the shortlisted nominees as part of the public participation process, as required by the law.
In addition, the panel said that it will notify the shortlisted applicants through the local dailies, of the date, time, and venue of the scheduled psychometric and oral interviews that will be conducted in public. (