Kalonzo and Junet accused of interfering with IEBC selection panel nominations

The National Liberal Party (NLP) Party has criticised Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed on Tuesday for allegedly shortchanging them in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel.

Through their party leader Dr Augustine Muli and Secretary General Omondi Koyoo, the party that is an affiliate of Azimio La Umoja Coalition claimed their party head Augustine Muli's name was replaced by Wiper Party's Koki Muli.

"We were shocked to see that the candidate that won the election to represent the parties in the IEBC selection panel has been replaced by someone who was defeated," said Muli.

Speaking to journalists in Nairobi, the party leadership protested against what they termed as strong arm twisting, which they vowed to fight back even through courts if necessary.

"We implore ODM's Junet Mohammed and Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka to respect the decisions of political parties that took part in voting for Augustine Muli to represent them at the IEBC selection panel," said Koyoo.

Wiper Party Secretary General Omondi Koyoo.

In their explanation, the angered political outfit said that on July 23, 2024, the registrar of Political Parties wrote a letter to all Political Parties outlining the process of elections.

"Further, a notice of procedure of elections of the nominees to the IEBC selection panel was issued on July 25, 2024, by the returning officer. It was upon this notice that PPLC members in their respective clusters would proceed to apply to be candidates for the elections to the IEBC selection panel," said Koyoo.

The party also read out that their candidate Augustine was vetted and approved to appear on the ballot paper to be elected at a duly constituted PPLC plenary on July 26, 2024. The election, according to them, was conducted by IEBC on July 26, 2024, at a Machakos hotel where Augustine got 16 votes against Koko Muli's seven votes.

They have protested Kalonzo and Junet's decision to the Registrar of Political Parties, Anne Nderitu.

This comes as the process of recruiting commissioners from the incapacitated IEBC is poised to begin with the filling of vacancies on the selection panel.

The National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula revealed that IEBC selection panel members will be gazetted by Tuesday, to set the ball rolling for advertisement for the vacant positions.

Apart from the politically led National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) Report that saw President William Ruto and Azimio La Umoja Coalition's Raila Odinga agree on its reconstitution, there has been pressure piled by Generation Z protesters, demanding that the body be reconstituted in readiness for polls.

Bodies nominating the nine members of the panel that will recruit the next crop of IEBC commissioners had until Tuesday, July 30 to do so.

Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, as chairperson of the Parliamentary Service Commission, had until the close of business Tuesday to receive the names. The Speaker is thereafter expected to submit the names to President William Ruto to appoint the selection panel.

The IEBC (Amendment) Act, of 2023, set a 14-day window for the respective nominating bodies, a deadline that lapses Tuesday.

According to the law, the Parliamentary Service Commission has two slots in the panel, three for political parties under the liaison umbrella PPLC, two for interreligious council, and one each for ICPAK and the Law Society of Kenya.

The team is taking shape with most of the agencies having forwarded their nominees to the PSC for onward transmission to the President.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants-Kenya nominated Tanui Andrew Kipkoech as its representative in the panel.

Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) on its part nominated Evans Misati – the current chair of the committee. He is to represent non-parliamentary parties.

Others in the PPLC team are Nicodemus Bore to represent the majority party. He is an executive director at President Ruto's United Democratic Alliance party.

The nomination of Augustus Muli under PPLC to represent the minority side is seemingly growing contentious. The Interreligious Council, for its part, has nominated Nelson Makanda of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya and Fatma Saman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum.

After their appointment, the panel would have 90 days to forward the names of the nominees to the IEBC, after which it would stand dissolved.

Misati, Saman, and Makanda were in the selection panel whose work was stopped to pave the way for the dialogue between President Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga's side.

Other members were Vice Chairperson Charity Kisotu and members Bethuel Sugut, Euralia Atieno, and Benson Ngugi. Their duties were stopped when they were just about to begin short-listing candidates for chairman and members of IEBC. At least 25 applied for chairperson and 925 for commissioner jobs.