IEBC selection panel dismisses reports of narrowing list of commission chair to four

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel has dismissed reports that there are front-runners in the commission chairperson seat. 

Speaking in Nairobi shortly after concluding the interviews for commissioners on Friday, the Nelson Makanda-led said they are yet to decide on two names that will be submitted to President William Ruto, who will then appoint one to head commission.

"We do not know where the names have come from.  What we know is that we still have names of 111 commissioner candidates, and 11 names for chair that we have interviewed here."

This is after it emerged that the team, out of 11 candidates interviewed for the top IEBC job, now prefer to consider four names- Erastus Edung Ethekon (Turkana), Mr Abdulqadir Lorot Ramadhan (Baringo), Ms Anne Amadi (Homa Bay) and Mr Charles Nyachae (Kisii) as the top contenders. 

And as reported by a local daily, Raila Odinga-led ODM party is reportedly favouring Mr Ethekon, or Mr Ramadhan, while the cards of the ruling United Democratic (UDA) party are oscillating between Ms Amadi and Mr Nyachae. 

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But the commission, on Friday, insisted that it is still a fair game for all the 11 interviewed candidates for the electoral body chairperson and 111 for commissioners.  

"And those are the ones we are going to consider and forward the names of 11 people to the president. About the other names going around, we do not know the source," said Makanda. 

According to IEBC Act as amended, the committee was expected to conclude the selection process by Sunday 27, but will now from the date, have 14 more days to finalise the process after parliament allowed their request as supported by the very regulation. 

"We sought to add some more days, and the parliament gave us 14 more days, which end on May 11.  And so by May 11, we will have given the names to the president," the commission said. 

The panel also dismisses talks of "sneaking in" six candidates to the list of commissioners. They defended the move, saying they acted within the frameworks of the law. 

"Six names were not sneaked in. It is our role and responsibility as a selection panel to shortlist. It is not the role of anybody else. So the panel exercised its duty and responsibility to shortlist 105 names. And upon consideration, we also included six names. And it was not a sneak in, " said Makanda.

The revelation that six new names were added to the list of initially shortlisted candidates for the commissioners' position before the interviews kicked off has created public uproar, raising queries on the integrity and credibility of the process.  

Mr Makanda defended the move, saying the panel published the names so that the public could know that the names had been included.

"We had a duty to do so, and we did our duty as it were. And you can even look at the candidates that were included, the six of them, they have come before us,” he stated. 

During the interview process that began on March 24, he disclosed that four commissioner candidates withdrew from the race for ‘personal reasons,’ including President Ruto's long-time lawyer, Katwa Kigen. 

They declared that the members of the panel will not take responsibility for the conduct of IEBC Commissioners that will be appointed should they fail to deliver to Kenyans. 

"We only had a selection to make from 1,356 candidates that had applied. We could not have gone outside there and shipped and brought in other people that had not applied," he said. 

"They take responsibility for their actions, whether they do good or do wrong to candidates. Our responsibility ends in the process," he added.

Mr Makanda lauded his team for staying true to the course so far, assuring Kenyans of conducting the exercise in "an impartial, fair and  transparent manner and in accordance with the constitution and relevant statutes."