How elections body will pave way for reforms

SUNDAY NATION: Considering the enormity of the task ahead, what is the starting point for you and the eight commissioners?

Mr Hassan: We are called the Interim Independent Electoral Commission because our role is transitional.

We are here in an interim capacity and our job is to set up structures for the new commission. We are supposed to establish an efficient and effective secretariat. According to the Kriegler report, the previous commission was quite large. There were 22 commissioners and they sometimes did the secretariat’s job.

We want to have a very clear separation between the two. The secretariat should be the technical arm of the commission and the commissioners will serve as the policy-making organ.

How soon will you set up the new secretariat?

We are going to carry out a very thorough recruitment process. We hope to get qualified Kenyans from across the country with the aid of a competent recruitment firm.

When hiring the new secretariat, will you consider some of the former Electoral Commission of Kenya staff as a way of retaining some institutional memory?

I do not want to pass judgment on any of the former workers here. Whatever has happened has happened and Parliament has passed the law which disbanded the entire commission. Some of them have been redeployed in the civil service while others have been given a gratuity.

We will start from scratch. Some of the former workers are still part of the public service and so we can always call on them. We have already had to consult some of them for certain clarifications during the handover process.

What are the other IIEC priorities?

Conducting fresh voter registration is one of the most important exercises ahead. That may take us the entire duration of our tenure, as voter registration, under law, is continuous and only stops during election time.

Once a good secretariat is in place, we can start employing registration officers and their support staff who will go to every constituency and start conducting registration of voters. This will be continuous until the referendum (on the new constitution).

Since you will have to wait until you set up a secretariat to embark on voter registration, what is the plan for the by-elections in Bomachoge and Shinyalu?

We want to have a crash programme for voter registration and have a register in place for the by-elections.

I know that there are those who argue we should use the old register but there are a lot of misgivings about that, especially if you look at the High Court ruling on Bomachoge. It said the tally of presidential votes cast was 48,000 while the combined votes cast for MPs was 38,000. That means the register is contentious.

We are alive to the concerns of those who think that fresh registration will delay the process. But we must also be aware of recent history.

We must respect the Kriegler report. The law has been changed and we have been asked to do voter registration. So, despite the fact that it is not ideal for people to wait for long before they get an MP, I think it is worth it because we will get a good voter register that is clean.

How will your plans for electoral reform dovetail with the ongoing constitution review?

We will engage with all stakeholders and the committee of experts on the issue of electoral reforms. This will include what kind of electoral commission the country wants in place.

We are consulting with the Kenya Law Reform Commission because, apart from Section 41 (of the Constitution), there is no act setting up the electoral commission.

The law reform commission has come up with a proposed law on the management of the ECK as a body. We want to look at that and see what proposals we can make to Parliament through the Justice ministry. Apart from that, we will also engage in voter education.

Which countries are you looking at to inform the reforms you propose?

It is always good to engage in comparative studies when you are carrying out reforms to an institution.

At the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC), we went on a number of study tours. There is a lot of value in going to countries which have conducted successful and peaceful elections, whether it is South Africa or Ghana.

In Ghana, they had a very close election but there was no violence. India is the world’s largest democracy and they have pulled off their election successfully. So there is value in trying to learn from the success of other systems especially those that are very relevant to our context in Kenya.

What role will wananchi play in the reform process?

We hope Kenyans will come out in large numbers during the voter registration exercise because the people who are elected in Parliament reflect the Kenyan society. It is us who have put them there.

I think it is high time Kenyans took responsibility for the leaders they elect. The youth in particular should not only vote but stand in elections and seek public office in this country. It is our future that is at stake here.

How will the IIEC deal with the public’s scepticism about the electoral process?

I think Kenyans have become more enlightened and we have also learnt from our elections as a nation and as a people.

I do not think that the fact that someone is from a certain tribe alone will be the single factor guaranteeing them votes.

There was a time when that was the case, but I think that after 2007, and in light of what is happening today in Parliament and the country, all the young Kenyans are much more concerned about principles and issues, not tribe.