Polls commission tense over chief officer’s post

The move by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to appoint its chief executive officer in an acting capacity has pushed the organisation back into the spotlight barely a month after President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga appointed the commissioners.

The decision to appoint Mr James Oswago in an acting capacity for three months pending a fresh recruitment process is said to have caused disquiet in the commission with some members seeing it as a determination by the chairman, Mr Issack Hassan, to get the chief executive out by all means.

The differences between the chairman and the chief executive began in the days of the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission.

Matters came to a head early in the week when the commissioners held a retreat at the Travellers Lodge at the Coast where the key agenda was supposed to be the election of vice-chairman.

Ms Lilian Bokeeye Mahiri-Zaja was elected. The meeting was also an induction workshop for the new commissioners who are required by law to have delineated new boundaries in four months’ time.

At the retreat, Mr Hassan is said to have caught the commissioners off guard when he said they also wanted to discuss Mr Oswago’s position and asked that he leave the meeting to allow discussions.

“Mr Oswago protested that for him to leave, he needed to know what was being discussed and that there was a need to enter in the minutes that the CEO was requested to leave to enable discussions on a specific topic where his presence would jeopardise discussions,” said the source who was at the meeting.

After Mr Oswago left, Mr Hassan informed the commissioners that the IEBC Act required that the chief executive be recruited competitively.

The proposal, our source says, sparked protests from some commissioners who said the Transitional Clauses in Chapter 6 of the Constitution provide that those in position at the time the new Constitution is promulgated shall complete their terms.

The commissioners argued that the Constitution was superior to IEBC Act.

At this point, Mr Hassan is said to have asked the commissioners to ask the former commissioners and current staff for details about Mr Oswago’s conduct, a proposal that drew more protests from a section of commissioners who said it was unprocedural for them to seek views of staff and former commissioners on the organisation’s chief executive.

Shortly thereafter, Mr Hassan announced the commission had resolved to appoint Mr Oswago as the acting commission secretary/chief executive for three months from November 8, 2011.

The commission is to recruit a secretary/chief executive and two deputies during the three months.

Reached for comment, Mr Oswago referred the Sunday Nation to the chairman.

“Please ask the chairman himself. He has made the communication, and if there is any clarification, he can make it himself,” he said before hanging up.

But Mr Hassan on Saturday defended his position and expressed concern that what was discussed in the meeting had reached the media.

“It does not augur well for the future of the commission that what we discussed in confidence in our first meeting has reached the media,” he said in a telephone interview.

He confirmed that Mr Oswago had been asked to leave the room so his conduct could be discussed and that a commissioner took the minutes during the discussion.

But he denied that the move had anything to do with his earlier disagreement with Mr Oswago which saw the latter’s personal assistant, Mr Roy Odongo, suspended for allegedly giving a local daily false information on the commission’s affairs.

Mr Hassan had complained that a smear campaign had been waged in the media against the institution.

Mr Hassan sought to allay fears that the other nine directors would also have to be recruited afresh, saying that the secretary was singled out by the law because it is a special position and that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission selection panel had not been transparent.

“Why are you also assuming that he (Mr Oswago) may not come back? He may as well emerge the best,” he said and denied that there had been any division on the matter.

“Of course people expressed their opinions, but if there was any division I would have called for a vote which I did not do,” said Mr Hassan.

Ms Mahiri-Zaja said “a lot of consultations are still taking place” but declined to elaborate further.

Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo said it was the work of the commission to appoint the secretary.

“It is not just this commission; all other commissions appoint secretaries. The ministry, the government and Kenyans require them to keep their political allegiance to themselves. All we want are free and fair elections just like Oswago delivered the referendum,” said Mr Kilonzo.

Safina party leader Paul Muite said the move to readvertise the position of the chief executive was in order.