Electoral team to hold its last by-elections in October

Front, from left: Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba, chairman Isaac Hassan and vice-chairman Lilian Mahiri-Zaja before a joint parliamentary select committee on the electoral body at Parliament in Nairobi on August 2, 2016. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • IEBC chairman said there should be no alarm over the matter adding that the law is clear on transitional issues in the commission.
  • Commission's Legal and Public Affairs Director Praxedes Tororey said the commission is assuming that there will be no vacuum that may obstruct its operations.

The Electoral Commission on Wednesday announced it will hold four by-elections for County Assembly Members on October 26.

It is probably the last elections organised by the current commission under the leadership of Ahmed Issack Hassan if a deal reached by a parliamentary select committee on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission report is sealed by MPs as proposed.

But concerns were raised on whether the by-elections would be held in the absence of a substantive commission.

But IEBC chairman said there should be no alarm over the matter adding that the law is clear on transitional issues in the commission.

“What the select committee says is not the law. Commissioners will be in the office till new ones come,” Mr Hassan said.

On Wednesday, the commission's legal and public affairs director Praxedes Tororey said the commission is assuming that there will be no vacuum that may obstruct its operations.

NO VACUUM

“We are working in the hope that the transition will be smooth and that at any given time the commission will always be operational without a vacuum,’’ said Ms Tororey

The process of picking a new commission could take upto a maximum of three months due to the rigorous nature of vetting and legal issues anticipated causing fear that the by-elections could be derailed by the absence of a commission.

The vacancies arose following deaths of the representatives in Mosiro (Kajiado West Constituency, Kajiado County), Sala (Bura Constituency, Tana River County), Nyacheki (Bobasi Constituency, Kisii County) and Kalokol (Turkana Central Constituency, Turkana County).