Taxpayers continue to splash millions on sitting allowances for seven members of the electoral agency selection panel, secretariat and office space, yet its operations are in limbo.
The team, appointed by President William Ruto on February 27 to recruit commissioners, is at a crossroads as its mandate is part of the agenda for talks between the opposition and the government.
It has been in office for more than five months—the longest period in the history of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panels. It has since held 16 meetings, according to insiders.
The seven-member team, led by Dr Nelson Makanda, pockets a total of Sh180,000 every sitting, according to Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) rates applicable to taskforces/panels appointed by the President.
This translates into Sh2.88 million for the 16 sittings, on top of other facilities extended to the members. The other members are Bethuel Sugut, Novince Euralia Atieno, Charity S. Kisotu, Evans Misati James, Benson Ngugi Njeri and Fatuma Saman.
According to the SRC rates, the chairperson is entitled to Sh30,000, as the six members get Sh25,000 each per day. The team has a secretary paid Sh20,000 every sitting, technical head paid Sh10,000, with a clerical officer and security getting Sh4,000.
There are other facilitations in terms of office space, payments to support staff and drivers funded by taxpayers. The panel has a boardroom for its sittings and office for the secretariat at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) provided by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
Costs for running these operations could run into millions of shillings, expenditure that would be considered lost should the planned recruitment be eventually negotiated by the warring parties.
In 2021, when the commission was to fill four vacancies—before three more, including Mr Wafula Chebukati, retired early this year—the Treasury had set aside Sh84.5 million for the selection panel in a supplementary budget.
The current budget is not publicly available, but the 2021 allocation could just point to the amount in question.
Compared to the previous panels, the Makanda team has taken the longest—and could take even longer if the planned talks do not come to an understanding on how to recruit the next IEBC commissioners.
The panel that recruited former IEBC chairman Chebukati and his team was in office for two months, having been appointed on October 11, 2016, and submitted names to former President Uhuru Kenyatta for nomination on December 29.
The team that recruited ex-vice chair Juliana Cherera, commissioners Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang'aya was in office for three months, having been appointed on April 26, 2021, and submitted names on August 5.
The delay to conclude the process is largely due to talks between the government and opposition sides on the 2022 post-election crisis.
Initial talks by a 14-member team on, among other things, the reconstitution of IEBC collapsed, but a new 10-member team to be chaired by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has been instituted and could render the panel irrelevant should it achieve the envisioned outcome.
PSC Secretary Jeremiah Nyegenye, who is also the Senate Clerk, referred the Saturday Nation to National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, who chairs the commission, for information touching on facilitation extended to the panel. Mr Wetang’ula neither returned our calls nor responded to our text messages.
The committee has been meeting even when the now collapsed 14-member bipartisan committee constituted by Dr Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga was having its sessions, according to Dr Makanda.
In the second round of talks, both the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition have identified reconstitution of the IEBC as one of the items for negotiations.
Having the two parallel processes in reconstituting the commission has since raised questions over blatant misuse of taxpayers’ money running into millions of shillings when it is becoming increasingly clear that the new commission was likely to be negotiated by the political class.
Dr Makanda yesterday declined to respond to our queries, but in a previous interview with the Nation, he said they remain in office until a new commission is in place. He, however, indicated that his team was conscious of ongoing political negotiations.
“We are still on with the recruitment but we are also conscious of the bipartisan talks. Our mandate can only come to an end once we are through with the recruitment, which is at the point of swearing in of the new commissioners.”
“This panel has not adjourned and no directive from any arm of government was given to adjourn. Since I took office, I am yet to receive any sort of communication from the Executive or anyone,” he said in a previous interview.
Their continued operation was cited by Azimio as one of the grounds for pulling out of the talks. The coalition alleged a sinister motive in keeping the panel in office.
ODM deputy party leader Wycliffe Oparanya said the recruitment was no longer legal but political. He termed it a waste of time and resources for the panel to continue sitting when it is apparent the process would be conducted afresh after talks. “They are going on with the sittings purely for personal benefits because they know the commissioners would be hired through negotiations,” said Mr Oparanya.
Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni told the Saturday Nation that disbandment of the selection panel is one of Azimio’s preliminary conditions before fresh talks can begin. He described it as a waste of taxpayers’ money or an illustration of lack of commitment by the Kenya Kwanza side to the talks.
“Why should we have the panel in place when the talks are meant to discuss reconstitution of IEBC? It is a waste of public resources to continue having it in place,” said Mr Kioni.
“We will demand the panel be disbanded before we can have substantive discussions around the items already identified. If they refuse then there would be no need of continuing with the talks because it would be a clear illustration that Kenya Kwanza is not committed to the talks,” he added.
But National Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Owen Baya (Kilifi North) said the expenditure is part of the cost Kenya has to pay to nurture democracy. He said the panel is legally in office and there is no ground to hound them out.
According to the UDA lawmaker, the team may be reconstituted should the talks bear fruit. This, he said, would mean calling for fresh applications for the vacant IEBC slots. His argument means the country would spend more money as the recruitment would start afresh.
He said they would not allow the Inter-Party Parliamentary Group approach where political parties pick commissioners.
“Nothing stops them from working, and that is the cost of democracy. It is expensive,” said Mr Baya. “Should the teams in the talks agree, what would happen is replacement of some of the panel members.”
The panel had started shortlisting when the bipartisan team was formed. It has, however, continued to hold meetings, some virtually, according to Dr Makanda and other sources on the panel.
Some 25 applicants had expressed their interest in succeeding Mr Chebukati, while another 895 applied for the six commissioner positions.
Once it concludes shortlisting, the panel would conduct interviews before submitting successful names to the President. Nominated candidates would then be forwarded to Parliament for vetting before the President can appoint them to office.
Azimio has since demanded that the proposed dialogue begin on Monday with a suggestion that it be concluded within 30 days.
“In light of the urgency of the issues, the anxiety of our people and in the interest of a speedy resolution to the issues afflicting our nation, we today extend an invitation to the Kenya Kwanza national dialogue team…for the initial joint meeting of both parties at the Serena Hotel,” Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Azimio’s lead negotiator in crisis talks, said.
“…issues for discussion from our side remain the cost of living, audit of the 2022 presidential election results, restructuring and reconstitution of the IEBC and related matters, measures to prevent interference with political parties and outstanding constitutional matters (governance issues, adequate checks and balances and the question of boundaries delimitation),” the coalition added.
Kenya Kwanza team, led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, has indicated that it will stick to the reconstitution of IEBC, implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, entrenchment of the Constituency Development Fund in the Constitution, and entrenchment of the Office of the Leader of Opposition and Prime Cabinet Secretary in the Constitution.
Based on the suggested timeframe for discussions, the panel would be in office for another month pending the outcome of the crisis talks.
In the event the dialogue team settles for a negotiated process, the panel is likely to be rendered irrelevant. UDA Party Secretary General Cleophas Malala, however, told the Saturday Nation that the panel will have to remain in place.
Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, who co-chaired the 14-member bipartisan team, said the dialogue risks collapsing again for lack of trust and commitment by Kenya Kwanza.
“The first round of talks collapsed because of lack of trust, I still don’t see that on the side of Kenya Kwanza in this new round of talks,” he said.
