Senate erupts over IEBC vetting snub, renews power struggle with National Assembly

IEBC chairperson nominee Erastus Ethekon, who, together with six other commissioner nominees, will be vetted by the National Assembly on May 27, 2025. (Photo: JSC)

By Maureen Kinyanjui
Saturday, May 17, 2025

The Senate argues that the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is a matter of national interest and should involve both Houses.

A fresh protest has broken out in Parliament as senators opposed their exclusion from the upcoming vetting of nominees to the electoral commission.

The move has reignited long-standing supremacy battles between the Senate and the National Assembly over which House has the final say in national matters.

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The Senate argues that the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is a matter of national interest and should involve both Houses.

The senators want the vetting to be conducted by a joint committee, as has been the case in other high-level state appointments.

“In our considered view, this is a process that should be undertaken jointly by both Houses, as has been the practice with the approval of nominations to key state offices,” said Hillary Sigei, the chairperson of the Senate’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, as quoted by The Star.

The National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee is scheduled to begin vetting IEBC chairperson nominee Erastus Ethekon and six other commissioners on May 27.

But in a heated debate on the Senate floor, lawmakers expressed outrage, calling their exclusion a deliberate move to undermine the Senate’s constitutional role.

Joint committees

They pointed to past vetting processes involving key public figures, such as the Inspector General of Police, Central Bank Governor, and members of the Commission on Revenue Allocation that were handled by joint committees of both Houses.

While Article 250(2) of the Constitution and the IEBC Act state that nominees should be vetted by the National Assembly, senators insist that this provision was a transitional measure introduced in 2012 before the Senate was formally established.

“This amendment, which replaced the word ‘Parliament’ with ‘National Assembly,’ was meant to apply only to the transitional phase. Since then, the National Assembly has consistently frustrated our efforts to restore the term ‘Parliament’ in the law,” Sigei said.

A proposal to amend the Act and reinstate the term “Parliament” remains pending in the National Assembly.

“Indeed, this is one of the Bills that the National Assembly has kept on its shelves far longer than is acceptable. Let me state categorically that, as a committee and as a House, we will not back down on this provision,” the Senator added.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei backed the call for a joint vetting process.

“Even when you read Article 88 on the establishment of the IEBC, there is no justification for the National Assembly to vet the commissioners alone,” he said.