Chiloba says IEBC not responsible for solving county border disputes

Electoral and Boundaries Commission CEO Ezra Chiloba addresses participants during the launch of election operations plan 2015-2017 in Nairobi on January 14, 2016. The electoral commission has declared that it is not responsible for resolving county border disputes. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said its mandate, according to the Constitution, is limited to reviewing constituency and ward boundaries.
  • The commission said the resolution of county boundary disputes is the responsibility of Parliament.
  • Counties such as Vihiga and Kisumu have yet to solve a conflict over the location of Maseno Township, which is claimed by both.

The electoral commission has declared that it is not responsible for resolving county border disputes.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said its mandate, according to the Constitution, is limited to reviewing constituency and ward boundaries.

The commission said the resolution of county boundary disputes is the responsibility of Parliament.

IEBC Chief Executive Ezra Chiloba on Tuesday said the agency had been wrongly blamed for not resolving rows between counties.

Counties such as Vihiga and Kisumu have yet to solve a conflict over the location of Maseno Township, which is claimed by both.

Revenue collectors from Kisii and Nyamira recently clashed in Keroka Town over taxes.

Makueni and Machakos county governments are fighting over Konza City, and attempts by the Senate to find a solution to the problem in the past have failed.

Bungoma and Busia have similar problems. This is equally true of Isiolo and Meru counties.

There has also been a dispute involving Turkana, West Pokot and Baringo.

Mr Chiloba said Parliament has the mandate to tackle county boundary rows, adding that the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee had already taken up the matter.

HEARD COMPLAINTS

“We have heard complaints that the IEBC has not dealt with county boundary rows yet it has already scheduled voter registration,” said Mr Chiloba.

He asked Parliament to set up a commission or a tribunal to tackle the disputes pitting various counties against one another.

“Even for the boundaries that are within our jurisdiction, say wards and constituencies, they will only be revised in the next cycle, after a census has been conducted,” said Mr Chiloba.

At the same time, Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma invited the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to the resolve inter-ethnic conflict on the Nandi-Kisumu border recently.
Mr Ranguma also reported to the cohesion team that the county still has problems with jurisdiction over revenue collection at Sondu Market on the border with Kericho.
He asked the team to engage the polls agency on drawing the boundaries afresh.
The IEBC’s stance will dash the hopes of communities that thought the commission could deal with county border disputes.
Tensions between communities living along the borders of various counties have been reported, some of them politically instigated, while others have been linked to land disputes.
In the Maseno case, elders have indicated that the residents have preferred to register as voters in the neighbouring Vihiga County, hoping to get better services.