Why lobby groups, opposition have little or no faith in reconstitution of IEBC
The IEBC Selection Panel has been accused of bias and political favouritism, claiming the panel has "deliberately shortlisted individuals with clear political affiliations" and compromised the credibility of the entire selection process.
Faith and trust in the integrity of the next elections are waning faster as a result of the happenings around the ongoing process to reconstitute the electoral agency that has been incapacitated for some time.
On Thursday, the bid to discredit the ongoing recruitment process was jump-started by Operation Linda Jamii, a lobby group demanding immediate nullification of the current shortlist of candidates for the positions of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson and commissioners.
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The group accused the Nelson Makanda-led IEBC Selection Panel of bias and political favouritism, claiming the panel has "deliberately shortlisted individuals with clear political affiliations" and compromised the credibility of the entire selection process.
Prof Fred Ogolla, who heads the lobby, while speaking to The Eastleigh Voice, singled out Charles Nyachae, Joy Mdivo, saying they are politically aligned individuals who should not have been considered for positions meant to be independent.
The group also raised concerns about Nyachae’s alleged financial issues, including being listed on the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), ongoing family financial disputes, and multiple child-support cases in court.
"Mr. Nyachae is the sitting chairperson of the Council of the Kenya School of Government, a government institution. He is a recycled bureaucrat and a perennial government appointee whose loyalty lies with the current political establishment, not the people of Kenya," stated the group’s founder, Prof. Fred Ogola.
"Nyachae is also a perennial government appointee and a recycled bureaucrat whom we believe will serve the current political establishment called the broad-based government, and not the people of Kenya."
The group added: "Further, we have put evidence in court demonstrating that Mr. Charles Nyachae is listed in the CRB. How then would you entrust someone who, despite coming from a wealthy family of a former minister, finds himself on the CRB, family financial feuds which are in court and extramarital affairs that have been sued for about four child-support."
Charles Ayako Nyachae, who seeks to be the next chairman of the IEBC. (Photo: Courtesy)
Equally contentious is the shortlisting of Joy Mdivo, who the group says is currently serving as the chair of the Board of Directors at Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC), a state-controlled entity and also holds the position of Chairperson of the Electoral Disputes Resolutions Committee of UDA, which they term as 'a blatant conflict of interest'.
Eroding public trust
Operation Linda Jamii argues that allowing state officers and party insiders into the IEBC undermines the electoral body’s integrity and risks eroding public trust ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The group is now demanding the immediate nullification of the current IEBC shortlist, a fresh, transparent, and lawful selection process, an investigation into the panel’s conduct for potential political interference and an end to executive influence in the IEBC selection process.
They are also pushing for the inclusion of youth and persons with disabilities (PWDS) in the next selection process.
“If the 2027 election turns out to be flawed, they will be held responsible. If Kenyans lose faith in the process, your role will be recorded in history. And if the country plunges into crisis, the blood will be on your hands,” the group declared.
The group had initially filed a petition in the High Court of Naivasha under a certificate of urgency to stop the nomination and potential appointment of the shortlisted candidates, but the matter has since faced legal roadblocks.
Chief Justice Martha Koome (centre) with members of the IEBC selection panel after they were sworn in on January 27, 2025. (Photo: National Assembly)
Justice Grace Nzioka, who first heard the case, recused herself, citing a conflict of interest as her supervisee, Justice Lorot, was also an applicant for the IEBC chair role.
The case was transferred to the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, where Justice Chacha Mwita declined to certify the matter as urgent and deferred it to July 28 — a date the group says will fall after the expected swearing-in of the new IEBC chairperson.
"This raises serious questions. What is so different between the High Court in Naivasha and Nairobi? How much interest is at play that the judiciary appears unwilling to act independently?" Ogola stated.
The lobby group thus urged Kenyans, civil society, and religious leaders to resist what they termed a "blatant attempt to subvert democracy," emphasising that ‘Kenya belongs to the people, not to one man.’
Allegations of an effort to manipulate the election process for political gain have intensified, with concerns that such appointments could undermine public trust in the IEBC.
Lawyer Kigen, who has served as Ruto’s advocate for years, Mdivo, who heads the UDA Electoral Disputes Resolution Committee, and Nyachae, a close ally of the President, are among those under fire.
Poll rigging claims
These ties have led opposition figures, including Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua and Eugene Wamalwa, to argue that the appointments are part of a broader strategy to rig the upcoming general elections.
While opposition figures continue to voice their dissatisfaction, Mulle Musau, the national and regional coordinator for the Elections Observation Group, defended the qualifications of the nominees, stressing that the final decisions would ultimately depend on their professionalism.
"It is not so much about the names submitted; it is going to be about how they will conduct themselves," Musau remarked, pointing out that the vetting process would help determine their suitability for the roles.
The Notable National Youth Leaders Caucus and the Inter-Party Youth Forum had also written to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel, strongly protesting the exclusion of young, qualified candidates from the recently published shortlist for the positions of Chairperson and Commissioners.
The youth organisations, led by Alex Matere and Kidi Mwaga, have expressed outrage and disappointment over what they term as a deliberate sidelining of competent young applicants.
The integrity of the election in the country is hinged on the recommendations of the Kriegler Report, which is a product of the Kriegler Commission.
It was an international commission of inquiry established by the Government of Kenya in February 2008 to inquire into all aspects of the 2007 General elections with particular emphasis on the presidential elections.
According to the Kriegler Report, the electoral commission was required to outsource the selection of key temporary personnel to third-party agencies, with a requirement for testing of some essential skills, especially the Information Technology systems.
The commission also established that the manner of appointing commissioners and the structure, composition and management system of the ECK were materially defective, resulting in such a serious loss of independence, capacity and functional efficiency as to warrant replacing or at least radically transforming it.
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