Cabinet verdict: ECK chiefs may be sacked

The Electoral Commission may be disbanded following a Cabinet decision to fully implement the Kriegler report.

A 10-member team led by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga was given two weeks to draw an implementation plan.

The committee will include the eight Kofi Annan peace mediators.

The Cabinet gave the President and the Premier the go-ahead to fully implement the recommendations of the Independent Review Commission headed by South African retired judge, Mr Justice Johann Kriegler, whose verdict was that the ECK should be overhauled.

Integrity

The report stated that ECK should be radically reformed, or a new electoral management body be created “with a new name, image and ethos.”

Other members of the Kibaki-Raila committee are deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi and Cabinet colleagues William Ruto, James Orengo, Dr Sally Kosgei, Martha Karua, Mutula Kilonzo, Prof Sam Ongeri and Moses Wetang’ula.

They were members of the negotiating team under former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, which brokered the peace accord that saved Kenya from sliding to anarchy and civil war.

Sources at the Cabinet meeting chaired by the President at State House indicated that the decision to overhaul ECK was initially opposed by some ministers.

Sources said a number of minsters said ECK reforms should be carried out during the forthcoming review of the Constitution.

“The Cabinet underlined the importance of providing the way forward on the report and the need to address the issues that came up under agenda 4 of the Serena talks,” a statement from Presidential Press Service said.

It added: “The Cabinet also agreed on the need to have a united approach in the implementation of the changes recommended to Kenya’s electoral process due to the importance of electoral reforms in the prosperity of the country.”

Tax-payers will have to pay nearly Sh500 million to former MPs as the Cabinet also endorsed retirement benefits for those who served from 1963 to 2002.

The President and Mr Odinga were picked to lead the crucial committee due to their position as principals in the coalition government, while other members were drawn from the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee that negotiated an end to two months of post-election violence following the dispute over presidential poll results.

The 10-member committee will prepare an action plan of the Kriegler commission’s recommendations. The committee is to complete its report within 14 days.