Alarm over posting of poll staff to own turfs

The electoral commission is once again headed for a potential clash with political parties after it transferred constituency elections coordinators and the regional coordinators to their home counties to help with voter registration.

Political party representatives have termed the decision retrogressive and a potential avenue for manipulation of voter registration.

“I see it as a demonstration of IEBC’s (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) inability to run its affairs in a transparent manner. It only goes to bolster our resolve as Cord to have thorough reforms in this commission,” said Mr Norman Magaya, the director of Cord secretariat.

The chairperson of the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC), Ms Wavinya Ndeti, also faulted the decision to transfer the officials to their home counties.

“Ideally, we should and expect a system that pools IEBC staff; gives them standard training.  They should then be posted to any part of the country except their home counties. This will contribute to ensuring the credibility of the electoral process. Therefore, by posting people to their home places, non-local political interference cannot be guaranteed.  IEBC is yet to discuss its move with the PPLC,” said Ms Ndeti.

ENHANCE DELIVERY

But the current CEO, Mr Ezra Chiloba, said there was nothing untoward about the decision to have the CECs and RECs return to their home areas.

“We moved staff back to their counties of recruitment and not constituencies. The aim is to enhance delivery of electoral services to citizens, especially voter registration,” he said.

In any case, he added, a similar exercise will be undertaken just before the 2017 elections as per the commission’s policy.

But a top commission official said the move was not well-thought out. According to the official, the commission ought to have consulted political parties before implementing the decision.

“It can maximise registration of voters but it also has the potential of opening doors for mischief. If not handled carefully, we may end up with dead voters in the register,” the official said.

Furthermore, the argument by Mr Chiloba that a similar exercise will be undertaken just before the 2017 elections, as per the commission policy, was criticised on the basis that it would make it impossible for the CECs and RECs to oversee elections or know the service providers.

FOOT SOLDIERS

IEBC has 290 constituency elections coordinators (CECs) from 290 constituencies and 17 regional elections coordinators (RECs) who are accountable to the secretariat in Nairobi.

The CECs and RECs are the foot soldiers of the commission and oversee voter registration in their respective areas, manage constituency and regional IEBC offices and monitor existence of political parties’ offices and relevant records. They also coordinate sensitisation of political parties at the constituency and county levels and monitor the engagement of political parties in illegal activities.

Under former IEBC CEO James Oswago, there was a policy of dispersing the coordinators to any part of the country except their home areas in order to shield them from local political networks.

Mr Magaya said Cord’s legal team was studying the decisions and the possible implications.

“We will then formally approach the IEBC with our concerns. But in all honesty there is no rationale for IEBC to do that and expose these important people in the electoral process to local political networks,” he said.

“What IEBC is doing is not part of the transformation towards free, fair and transparent elections,” he added.

It was only in June when political parties expressed concern about IEBC’s 2015-2020 strategic plan. The party representatives complained of being ignored in the exercise of coming up with the strategy that will guide the 2017 polls.

The launch of the strategic plan was subsequently boycotted by political party representatives, mainly those affiliated with the opposition.