The next 40 days will be crucial for the country as the selection committee to recruit the chairperson and members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission begins interviewing shortlisted candidates.
The month-long interviews to reconstitute the IEBC by replacing the late Wafula Chebukati and his team will begin on March 24 and end on April 24, 2025.
It also turns out that some of those shortlisted are linked to the inner circles of President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga. Whether that is by design or not, the jury is still out.
However, some sections of civil society are already warning that any attempt to derail or influence the selection of commissioners will be met with resistance.
The reconstitution is crucial as many of the commission's key activities have stalled, including the conduct of by-elections and the delimitation of boundaries.
Former registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi, former Constitutional Implementation Commission (CIC) chairman Charles Nyachae and Kenya Power Board Chairperson Joy Brenda Mdivo are among the 11 candidates shortlisted for the position of IEBC chairperson.
Ms Mdivo was appointed last year to chair the UDA- ruling party's electoral dispute resolution committee ahead of the general elections.
The 11 include eight men and three women, while another 105 candidates are also vying for the six commissioners of the electoral body.
City lawyer Robert Akumu Asembo, who was added to the list of aspirants in an addendum published in the dailies on Friday 14 March, is also among those to be interviewed to chair the IEBC.
Others vying for the position of IEBC chairperson are former Deputy Chief Registrar Francis Kakai Kissinger, former Turkana County prosecutor Erastus Edung Ethekon, former Nairobi County Assembly clerk Jacob Ngwele Muvengei and lawyers Abdulqadir Lorut Ramadhan, Saul Simiyu Wasilwa, Lillian Wanjiku Manegene and Edward Katama Ngweywa who is a person living with disability.
As of March 6, 2025, a total of 1,356 people, including politicians, former state officials and people with connections to President Ruto and Mr Odinga, had applied for both the chairmanship and membership of the IEBC.
Of these, 37 sought the chairmanship, while 1,319 wanted to be commissioners.
The list of shortlisted candidates was published in the Daily Nation on March 14 by the IEBC Selection Committee for the Recruitment of Candidates for the Appointment of the Chairman and Members of the IEBC.
Among the 105 candidates shortlisted for the position of commissioners are Prof Peter Wanyande, a former CIC member, prominent lawyer Katwa Kigen, a close ally of President Ruto who has represented him in many cases including at the International Criminal Court and the 2022 presidential election petition in the Supreme Court.
The lawyer, who also represented radio journalist Joshua Sang at the ICC, was appointed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2016 to chair the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority Board for a three-year term.
Mr Duncan Ojwang, who was part of the legal team that represented President Ruto in the 2022 presidential petition, and Mr Chrispine Owiye, the current IEBC Legal Director, were also shortlisted for the position of IEBC member.
Mr Ojwang was appointed to the four-member technical team that assisted the Kenya Kwanza Coalition side during the National Dialogue Committee's bi-partisan talks with the Azimio side.
Others include Kagwiria Mbogori - former chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Ms Betty Sungura - former deputy CEO of the IEBC and most recently CEO of the National Gender Equality Commission.
Notable names that did not make it to the shortlist included former embattled CEO of the electoral body, Mr James Oswago, who is embroiled in the Chicken Gate scandal.
Other casualties who had applied to join the electoral body but were dropped included Mr Odinga's close ally and former Siaya governor Cornel Rasanga, former Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua, political analyst and former National Cohesion and Integration Committee member Prof Gitile Naituli and lawyer William Otieno Oketch, who previously served as chairman of the Media Council of Kenya Complaints Commission.
Former Transition Authority chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi and former National Land Commission deputy chairperson Abigael Mbagaya also failed to make the cut after applying to be IEBC commissioners.
According to the notice signed by IEBC selection committee chairman Dr Nelson Makanda: "The oral interviews shall be held in the Ballroom at the College of Insurance, South C in Nairobi County and will be conducted in public.”
Members of the public have been invited to submit in writing, under oath, any information of interest regarding the suitability of any of the shortlisted candidates to serve as Chairman or Member of the IEBC.
This may be done by registered post, hand-delivered in a sealed envelope or online as a PDF file attachment to [email protected] .
The deadline for the submission of memoranda in respect of an IEBC Chairperson candidate should be received by 5 pm on March 19, 2025, while for members the deadline is March 25, 2025.
"Any attempt by the candidate to canvass or otherwise influence the selection process will automatically disqualify the candidate from the process," Mr Makanda warned.
In a gazette notice No 1901 of February 14, 2023, and March 1, 2023, President Ruto declared the position of IEBC chairperson and six commissioners vacant.
The IEBC Selection Committee advertised the positions in the newspapers and on the Parliamentary Service Commission website on 1 February 2025, inviting applications for the positions.
During the funeral of Malava MP Malulu Injendi, President Ruto asked the panel to expedite the reconstitution of the IEBC to facilitate the upcoming by-elections in the country.
