By EDWIN MUTAI, emutai@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- MPs deleted paragraph (a) of Section 6 of the Bill that stipulated that a person is qualified for appointment as a member of the IEBC if such person is a citizen of Kenya.
- This means that the removal of the requirement of citizens to be appointed to the IEBC may open a window for the appointment of any qualified foreign national to sit in the next seven member commission.
- IEBC commissioners headed by Isaack Hassan have agreed to voluntarily leave office so long as they are given a dignified exit package.
Foreigners may be appointed to serve at the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after MPs
approved the Elections Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which removes the
requirement that commissioners be Kenyans.
MPs last week passed the Bill without any amendments and it
now awaits the input of the Senate before it is taken to President Uhuru
Kenyatta for assent.
The Bill is a product of a 14- member select
committee on electoral reforms that brought together the Senate and the
National Assembly.
The select committee that was co-chaired by Meru
Senator Kiraitu Murungi and his Siaya counterpart James Orengo came up
with two Bills, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the
Election Offences Bill, 2016.
The committee was formed following sustained public
demonstration by the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy
(Cord), which accused the current IEBC commissioners of bias.
The commissioners headed by Isaack Hassan have
agreed to voluntarily leave office so long as they are given a dignified
exit package.
In June, Cord suspended its weekly protests against
the IEBC after the opposition and the ruling Jubilee coalition agreed
to form a Select Committee to dialogue over electoral reforms and the
future of the commissioners.
The MPs amended section 6 of the Independent
Elections and Boundaries Commission Act 2011 that sets out
qualifications for appointment as chairperson or member of the
commission.
“The Bill seeks to amend section 6 of the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act, 2011 to remove the
requirement that commissioners be citizens of Kenya,” clause 32 of the
Bill states.
The MPs deleted paragraph (a) of Section 6 of the
Bill that stipulated that a person is qualified for appointment as a
member of the commission if such person is a citizen of Kenya.
“A person is qualified for appointment as a member
of the commission if such person is a citizen of Kenya, holds a degree
from a recognised university, has proven relevant experience in any of
the following fields-electoral matters, management, finance, governance,
public administration, law and meets the requirement of Chapter Six of
the Constitution,” the IEBC Act states.
This means that the removal of the requirement of
citizens to be appointed to the IEBC may open a window for the
appointment of any qualified foreign national to sit in the next seven
member commission.
The MPs at the same time retained the requirement
that public officers who intend to contest the August 2017 General
Election must resign from public office six months before the date of
the election.
“A public officer who intends to contest an
election under this Act shall resign from public office at least six
months before the date of election,” the Bill states.
The requirement does not apply to the President,
Deputy President, a Member of Parliament, a county governor, deputy
governor and a member of county assembly.
This means that all public servants with an eye on the August 8, 2017 polls will quit office by February 7 2017.
Attempts by MPs to change the date when public
officers resign from office to contest a General Election to eight
months flopped because no amendment was allowed.
Cord leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto whipped MPs into passing the Bill without a single amendment.
Mr Odinga and Mr Ruto ensured that MPs approved the
Bill, which seals all avenues for party hopping without altering its
contents.
The MPs also made changes to the IEBC Act to
provide for other modes of vacation from office of members of the
commission including death and resignation from office since this was
not covered under the law.
“The office of the chairperson or a member of the
commission shall become vacant if the holder dies, resigns from office
in writing addressed to the President or is removed from office under
any of the circumstances specified under Article 251 and Chapter Six of
the Constitution,” the Bill states.
The Bill requires the President to publish a
notice of a vacancy in the Kenya Gazette within seven days of occurrence
of such a vacancy in the IEBC.
“Whenever a vacancy arises under subsection (1),
the recruitment of a new chairperson or a member, under this Act, shall
commence immediately after the declaration of the vacancy by the
President,” the Bill says.
The Bill stipulates that the replacement of the
chairperson or member of the commission shall commence at least six
months before the lapse of the term of the chairperson or member of the
commission.
The Bill also clarifies how the office of the secretary to the IEBC becomes vacant.
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