IEBC commissioners in a past event. [Photo/citizentv.co.ke]The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was accused of managing an electoral process marred by irregularities and illegalities in the just concluded August 8th elections. Subsequently, their initial pronouncement on declaring Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner was thus annulled by the Supreme Court.
The ruling put IEBC on the spot for failing to follow strict rules and guidelines for free, fair, transparent and credible elections. Apparently, the electoral body's agents failed to sign and stamp forms 34As and 34Bs, failed to scan the forms for transmission purposes, failed to explain the origin of the numbers used to declare the winner among other accusations.
This prompted the IEBC chair to seek answers from his fellow commissioners. In a memo addressed to IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba, the chair wanted an explanation for the systemic flaws in the August polls. He also wanted an explanation on the satellite phones that were supposed to transmit results in areas with no network.
What followed was counter resistance from the other commissioners in defense of Chiloba. They cited that they had not been consulted by the chair.
With such infighting within the electoral body, it is clear that the next election scheduled for October may as well not be handled with the seriousness required. This is worsened by the demands by NASA before the electoral body holds another election.
The infighting means that IEBC is distracted from reorganizing itself and concentrating on aligning various issues and processes to ensure they conduct a credible election once and for all. In fact, this infighting may paralyze the October 17th timeline and subject the country to more anxiety.
The country needs to hold the presidential election for all the other sectors to get back on track. Currently, the economy is hurting due to losses in the stock market and lack of investors and this is bad for the country. And if Kenyans go to an election with certain issues not addressed, then another petition may still seek to annul the outcome of the forthcoming election and put the country's progress in jeopardy.