Kenya appoints new members of electoral body

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday appointed new commissioners to head the electoral body expected to run the presidential and parliamentary polls in August.

Kenyatta appointed Wanyonyi Wafula Chebukati as chairman and Consolata Nkatha Bucha Maina, Boya Molu, Roselyn K. Akombe, Ambassador Paul Kurgat, Margaret Wanjala Mwachanya and Professor Abdi Guliye as members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after they were vetted and approved by Parliament.

"The President's appointments bring to a close the process of the reconstitution of the IEBC," Kenyatta said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

He said the reconstitution was a bi-partisan process that breathes new life into the electoral body while at the same time restoring confidence in its capacity and competence to deliver on its Constitutional and Statutory mandates.

The new team will replace the outgoing IEBC officials whose removal from office in mid last year sparked a series of street protests by the opposition which demanded that they quit office because of corruption and other malpractices, leading to a bi-partisan process by the leaders from across the political divide.

The opposition staged weekly demonstrations for six weeks in a row in major towns and cities, with the biggest turnout in western Kenya, Nairobi and the coastal town of Mombasa.

The police then responded to the demonstrations by using teargas and high-powered water cannon and in most cases, violently dispersing the demonstrators resulting in the death of at least six people.

However, the outgoing IEBC commissioners remained defiant, vowing never to bow to pressure by the opposition to resign and called on the opposition leaders to observe the rule of law in addressing the issue.

The opposition coalition CORD, which lost the 2013 election, accused the outgoing electoral commissioners of corruption, bias and lack of independence and insisted that the same officials should not be allowed to preside over the 2017 general election.

However, the ruling Jubilee party defended the officials thus leading to protests. The government then maintained that the reforms or changes should be pursued within the confines of the constitution.

The new team will be tasked with restoring confidence in the electoral body in handling the August polls which is shaping out as a hotly contested race in which Kenyatta who is seeking re-election faces the opposition which is working toward fronting a single candidate through an outfit known as the National Super Alliance (NASA). Endit