Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman
Issack Hassan (second right) addresses the media at the agency's offices
in Nairobi on May 5, 2016. He is flanked by IEBC chief executive Ezra
Chiloba (second left) and commissioners Kule Galma Godana and Thomas
Letangule. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
By FRED OLUOCH
In Summary
IEBC commissioners have finally agreed to leave
office after months of anxiety regarding their fate as the country
inches closer to the 2017 elections.
The nine commissioners, led by Chairman Issack Hassan, on
Wednesday told a joint parliamentary committee comprising members of the
country's National Assembly and the Senate that they are ready to leave
office through a political settlement for the sake of peace.
That means the joint committee, co-chaired by
Senators Kiraitu Murungi and James Orengo, will now have to craft a bill
that allows the commissioners of the Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to leave office before the end of their
term in September 2017 as part of the larger electoral reforms.
“We have been pleading with the commissioners to be
patriotic and leave peacefully to enable the country hold peaceful
elections in 2017. Kenya is a peaceful country and we don’t want a
repeat of the 2007 post–election violence,” said Mr Kiraitu in final
address to the committee Wednesday.
The joint committee was formed in June after five weeks of street protests by the opposition led by Raila Odinga.
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