IEBC pushed to make degree mandatory for political aspirants

As time quickly ticks towards the 2027 General elections, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) still has the challenging task of upgrading the quality of aspirants who will contest for a Member of Parliament and County Assembly in 2027.

Last week, IEBC chairman Erastus Ethekon told The Standard that they are not in a hurry to resolve outstanding issues that stopped IEBC from enforcing the university degree requirement for parliamentary seat aspirants, creating room for the re-election of more academic dwarfs in the coming elections.

“We are not in a hurry because if we do it now, someone will again try to frustrate the process, but we will do it at the appropriate time,” said Ethekon.

In April 2022, the High Court declared that the requirement by IEBC for an MP and MCA to possess a university degree was unconstitutional, because section 22 of the Elections Act, which mandated a degree for the positions, was enacted without public participation.

It is not clear what efforts the current IEBC office is making to ensure that the process is restarted and proper public participation is done before it is too late. 

Although the law was first enacted in 2011, Parliament repeatedly postponed its implementation to allegedly allow candidates more time to acquire qualifications.

As it currently stands, a degree is only mandatory for candidates seeking the Presidency, Deputy Presidency and Governorship.

But with the general elections just 15 months away, the country is yet again at a crossroads, and faces a choice on whether to ‘lower the bar’ to ensure political inclusivity or enforce strict academic requirement standards to meet the requirements of modern-day governance.

Pundits argue that there is a need to resuscitate debate over the educational requirements of leaders, even as the push for a university degree requirement continues to be a battlefield between the quest for credible leadership and the Constitutional right to political inclusion.

“Going into 2027, there is a need for the enforcement of this university degree requirement if we as a country truly yearn for leaders who can deliver impactful change. We should not only look at the requirement at the surface level because after four years in university, it is not the papers that you acquire but the discipline and values. Education is indispensable,” says Professor of Management and Leadership Gitile Naituli.

The professor holds that, according to our current Constitution, two of the most important positions are those of the MP and MCA and if, as a country, we can get it right at those levels, then the nation will rise. This, he says, is because they are the engines that drive this country.

“I’m of the strong view that the education level of a leader, especially at the Constituency level, contributes to the development of that area. If you look at Tigania West Constituency, for instance, the former MP Kilemi Mwiria, who also served as the Higher Education assistant minister, was able to transform the constituency with just two terms in office,” says Professor Naituli.

He points at the cases of Nairobi and Meru counties, where it appears former governors Mike Sonko and Kawira Mwangaza were overwhelmed by their positions and eventually crushed under their own weight.

Political observers also note that modern roles of oversight, legislation and national budgeting require a high level of academic competence to ensure leaders can effectively navigate both local and global policies.

Public participation has, however, been the stumbling block that has hindered IEBC from successfully implementing the university degree requirement. In the run-up to the 2022 general election, the High Court declared null and void the section of the Election Act that required Members of Parliament to have a degree.

In a ruling delivered virtually, Justice Anthony Mrima said the disputed provision had failed to undertake adequate public participation.

“I find and hold that there was no meaningful public participation towards the enactment of section 22(1)(b)(ii) of the Elections Act. In sum, the impugned provision falls short of the constitutional requirement under Article 10(2)(a) of the Constitution,” Mrima ruled.

The ruling subsequently paved the way for aspirants in the various elective seats to contest.

Earlier, IEBC had directed that aspirants seeking the Parliamentary position would be required to produce a degree from any recognised institution for them to be cleared to run for their preferred seat.

This declaration by the then Wafula Chebukati-led IEBC, however, attracted the ire of Senators who resorted to passing the Election (Amendment) Bill 2021 that scrapped the university degree requirement for aspirants.

During the debate, a total of 27 Senators voted in favour of the Bill, which was sponsored by the then Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen. The lawmakers argued that the Bill would ensure no Kenyan is discriminated against as far as vying for positions is concerned.

But even with the myriad setbacks, the electoral agency has unveiled significant policy proposals to tighten the 2027 polls. The proposals, currently before Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, seek to ensure electoral integrity in the high-stakes polls and simultaneously address long-standing gaps exposed in previous polls.

Key among the proposals is a controversial requirement targeting party nominations at the county level. The commission proposes that any individual nominated to a county assembly must be a registered voter within that specific county.

“A person shall not be nominated by a political party under subsection (4) unless the person is, on the date of submission of the party list, a registered voter in any of the wards in the county in which the person is nominated,” reads the proposal.

If adopted, the rule would lock out individuals seeking nomination outside their counties of voter registration. For instance, a voter registered in Mombasa would be ineligible for nomination as an MCA in Kisumu.

IEBC further recommends extending the residency-linked voter registration requirement to nominees for the National Assembly and Senate.

The Erastus Ethekon-led IEBC also wants Parliament to repeal Section 20 of the Electoral Code of Conduct to grant it prosecutorial powers over election-related offences. This would enable it to effectively handle cases such as those of fake and questionable academic papers.

If approved, the move could also help in speeding up the resolution of historical electoral disputes and offences.

 “The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) requests restoring powers to prosecute election offences (under Article 252(1)(a)) due to low ODPP prosecution rates of electoral offences,” reads the proposal in part.

Further, the electoral agency proposes increasing the number of voters per polling station from 700 to 800.

“For efficient and effective conduct of elections, the number of voters per polling station shall not exceed eight hundred,” reads the proposal.

The commission argues that advancements in voter identification technology, coupled with the deployment of additional clerks, will reduce congestion and speed up the voting process.