Court suspends IEBC recruitment case pending Malindi ruling
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials register a youth as a voter at their Ainabkoi Sub-County offices in Eldoret City, Uasin Gishu County, on April 28, 2026.
The High Court in Nairobi has suspended proceedings in a petition challenging the involvement of a consultancy firm in the recruitment of the electoral commission’s chief executive officer.
The case will remain frozen pending the hearing and determination of a related case before the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Malindi.
Justice Roselyne Aburili suspended the proceedings in a case filed by the National Liberal Party and its leader, Augustus Kyalo Muli, which questions the commission’s decision to hire KPMG Advisory Services Limited to manage the recruitment process.
The Nairobi case will await the outcome of the Malindi petition filed by Thomas Kennedy Balala, which has already resulted in temporary orders halting the recruitment exercise, including interviews for the nine shortlisted candidates.
The Malindi matter is scheduled for hearing on November 17, 2026, and the commission has since hired C. B. Mwongela & Company Advocates together with Rachier & Amollo LLP to present its defence in both cases.
The Nairobi petition challenges the role given to KPMG, arguing that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) transferred key statutory responsibilities to a private consultancy instead of retaining control over the selection of its secretary.
The petitioners say Section 10 of the IEBC Act vests the responsibility of appointing the Commission Secretary in IEBC and requires the recruitment to be open, transparent and competitive.
They argue that while the Commission may seek technical assistance, it cannot delegate decisions on applications, longlisting and shortlisting to an external firm.
“The recruitment process is fundamentally flawed due to the unconstitutional delegation and abdication of exclusive statutory decision-making powers by the first respondent (IEBC) to a private entity,” the petitioners say.
They further argue that “the statutory duty to recruit and appoint the Secretary is vested exclusively in the Commission”.
The dispute concerns the official who will head the IEBC Secretariat, serve as its accounting officer and oversee the Commission’s administrative operations ahead of the 2027 General Election.
A clerk captures the biometrics of a youth during the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's mass voter registration exercise at Eldoret National Polytechnic in Eldoret City, Uasin Gishu County on March 30, 2026.
IEBC advertised the position on July 28, 2026, with applications closing on August 11. The Commission received 304 valid applications before shortlisting nine candidates on October 28.
The candidates are Anthony Omerikwa, Halakhe Waqo, Harley Mutisya, Edmund Odiwuor Malitt, Andrew Gitau Kimani, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdi, Edward Katama Ngeywa, Martina Wato Yattani and Nelly Ilongo.
In a public notice, IEBC said it engaged KPMG to manage the “end-to-end recruitment process, including advertisement, receipt of applications, long-listing, verification and shortlisting”.
The Commission said the arrangement was intended “to ensure professionalism and independence in this critical recruitment”.
It also said foreign applicants were disqualified after preliminary checks on their identity, citizenship and academic qualifications.
“All foreign applicants were disqualified at the preliminary stage for not meeting the citizenship requirement,” the Commission said, urging the public to “disregard attempts to politicise a standard recruitment process”.
The petitioners, however, want the court to establish whether commissioners independently supervised the process and approved the shortlist.
They say they have not received KPMG’s contract and terms of reference, the scoring matrix, verification reports or minutes showing the Commission’s approval of the shortlisted candidates.
Mr Muli says his lawyers requested the records on October 30 under Article 35 of the Constitution, which guarantees access to information.
The petition asks the court to compel IEBC and KPMG to disclose the contract, recruitment criteria, evaluation methodology, verification procedures and certified minutes of the Commission’s deliberations.
The petition also raises questions about gender and regional representation in the shortlist. Seven of the nine candidates are men, while two are women. Two candidates are listed as being from Marsabit County, and Ngeywa is identified as a person with a disability.
The petitioners want the Commission to explain how it considered gender balance, regional diversity and the representation of marginalised groups.
They acknowledge that “the gender composition of a shortlist, standing alone, does not conclusively establish a constitutional violation”.
IEBC said its shortlist considered gender, regional balance and persons with disabilities to the extent reasonably possible based on the applicant pool.
The Commission also listed citizenship, complete application documents, relevant management experience and compliance with Chapter Six of the Constitution among the screening requirements.
The petitioners are seeking declarations that the recruitment process is unlawful if the court finds that IEBC surrendered statutory decision-making powers to KPMG. They also want the recruitment records preserved and disclosed.
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