Throughout 2024, The Nairobi Law Monthly has been consistent in insisting that politicians must close ranks and pave the way for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to be reconstituted.
In January, it will be two years since the last commissioner and then chairman Wafula Chebukati retired and IEBC has been without the policy making organ since. In that period, the commission was meant to have reviewed constituency boundaries in line with constitutional provisions, but this did not happen, meaning that we are in breach of the Constitution.
Members of Parliament have been prevaricating about extending the deadline for a boundaries review, but it would appear, that they are only paying lip service to this idea given that they have taken zero action to make this happen.
Elections are now two years and a few months away, yet the country does not have commissioners just because politicians have engineered a crisis that has made it practically difficult to form a selection panel that will nominate the next set of commissioners.
This is a bad place for Kenya to be in considering that the resultant court case could take months to resolve, yet the problem is one that can be resolved in a day if there was political will.
Since there is none, the country is being subjected to unnecessary anxiety in the face of rapidly changing political realities that are likely to raise the stakes for the 2027 election.
Already, some Kenyans have collected signatures and asked the IEBC secretariat to pave the way for them to recall their Members of Parliament. However, IEBC was at pains to explain to them that they cannot get their way because the commissioners are not in office. For how long will such Kenyans have wait?
The task ahead of the commission is difficult. The new team, if it comes to office next year, will have a short time to acclimatise themselves with the reality of running the commission before they are immersed into the deep end to organise the 2027 elections.
Will they have time for civic education? Will they have enough time to register new voters and transfer existing ones who need to change?
The longer Kenya continues without IEBC bosses, the lower the credibility in the outcome of the 2027 election will be since it will be managed by novices.
This is a dangerous place to be in given that political risks, including violence, remain a real possibility if voters feel that the announced results do not reflect their will. Why politicians want to inflict this needless pain on Kenyans defies all logic.
They should, therefore, be constantly reminded that they are not doing Kenyans a favour by setting up the selection panel. They owe it to the republic and failure to live up to their mandate will surely return to haunt them.
Worse is that Members of Parliament will be proceeding on recess in the first week of December.
The chances that they will take the long break without setting in motion the process of selecting commissioners are worryingly high. That means regions that have been without MPs and MCAs because the IEBC as currently constituted cannot conduct elections will go for another year without representation, yet they are being taxed. How will the government justify taxing people who are not represented in it?
This may sound like a simple rhetorical question but if push came to shove and conscientious citizens challenged it in court, a ruling in their favour would have far-reaching ramifications for taxation ¬— and the dithering government officials and politicos who, for whatever reason, have ensured that IEBC is not reconstituted.
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