Joint House team to address IEBC crisis, President Kenyatta announces

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday announced that a joint select committee of Parliament will be formed to resolve the impasse over the electoral commission.

This comes after work by religious leaders and foreign diplomats alarmed by the violence in protests which have been organised by the opposition coalition of Cord.

Wednesday’s announcement is expected to pressure Cord leader Raila Odinga to accede to dialogue through Parliament which he has been opposed to. He has always insisted that talks should take place outside Parliament, a position resisted by Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.

The president made the announcement at a press conference at State House, Nairobi on Wednesday afternoon.

The announcement came after a meeting between the President and the clergy at State House earlier in the day. National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and his Senate counterpart Ekwe Ethuro attended the meeting with men of the cloth.

“Subsequent to the agreement of the Speakers, a Joint Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament be set up in accordance with the standing orders of both Houses. 

“The mandate of the committee will be strictly and exclusively the matter of IEBC,” Mr Kenyatta said, while flanked by Deputy President William Ruto.

From State House, the religious leaders headed to Capitol Hill Centre to meet Mr Odinga.

However, their meeting was interrupted by protests held by Nairobi business people who were expressing their anger over damage incurred in Monday’s demonstrations.

Mr Odinga had held a meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance officials over the disruption to business the demonstrations were causing.

Religious leaders have been lobbying for two weeks ago after it became clear that Jubilee and Cord had different approaches on resolving the issue of IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission). The differences would create fertile grounds for recurrence of chaos in the next elections, the clergy realised.

The clergy met President Kenyatta first last Friday after the National Prayer Day at the Safari Park Hotel in a bid to bring the Jubilee leadership and Cord to the table for talks.

NEED FOR DIALOGUE

On May 17, the clergy met Mr Odinga and his co-principals Moses Wetang’ula and Kalonzo Musyoka at Capitol Hill Centre where they stressed the need for dialogue over the crisis.
President Kenyatta’s announcement was immediately welcomed by Mr Odinga.

“That is basically what we have been calling for. We have said that we wanted a Joint Select Committee in order to negotiate. As you know, we already have set up our side of the team consisting of two Senators and three members of the National Assembly. I would say that this is a welcome development,” he said in an interview with a local TV station.

He said Cord, which has been holding weekly protests to push for dialogue on the IEBC would hold a meeting today following the new development.

“We have always maintained that demonstrations are not an end but a means to an end. And that is the reason why we have said we will respond once we know exactly if the negotiations will start. We will of course review the position with regard to demonstrations,” Mr Odinga said.

Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi also welcomed the announcement but warned that limiting the select committee to IEBC only was not enough and that it should work on reforms of the entire electoral system.

“This is a good show of goodwill and decent leadership by the President. I hope it isn’t a deceptive time-buying prank to appease Kenyans,” Mr Mudavadi said.

Cord was opposed to a Parliament-led approach to solving the IEBC crisis. It had wanted that a team of MPs and Senators will craft a draft Bill on electoral reforms from outside Parliament.
However, Jubilee insisted on the parliamentary approach and supported the path taken by a joint Senate and National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.

At State House, President Kenyatta said the proposed select committee would take into consideration the views of all stakeholders as well as the resolutions of the work being done by MPs.

“As provided for in the Standing Orders of both Houses of Parliament, and in the constitutional spirit of public participation, all stakeholders, public and private should be accorded an opportunity to make submissions to the joint select committee,” he stated.

RESOLVE CURRENT CRISIS

He invited Cord to participate in the latest initiative in order to resolve the current crisis which have threatened to plunge the country into another cycle of violence following ugly confrontations between opposition supporters and security agencies.

So far, five people have died in the weekly demonstrations meant to force IEBC commissioners out of office.

Mr Kenyatta did not, however, state how many members will sit on the committee but he said: “As the leader of Jubilee, I have convened a meeting of the Parliamentary Group tomorrow morning (Thursday) to agree on the membership and Jubilee’s participation in the joint select committee.”

Mr Kenyatta added: “The debate around IEBC reforms has been raging for a while now. And as President, I wish to give direction regarding this matter.”

He however emphasised the need to deal with the electoral commission matter using constitutional means contained in Article 3 (1) of the Constitution that states “every person is obligated to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution. This obligation is not an option. It is imperative, mandatory and an irreducible civic duty. As your President, I have sworn to defend it; but as citizens, you have this irreversible duty to protect it,” Mr Kenyatta stated.

Earlier in the day, Cord had sounded drums of war vowing to defy a government ban on street protests which was issued by Interior Affairs Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Tuesday.

Cord management committee co-chairmen Senators Johnston Muthama (Machakos) and James Orengo (Siaya) said they will hold demonstrations on Monday and Thursday next week as they described Mr Nkaissery’s ban as draconian and illegal.

Mr Orengo claimed that the government’s action was an attempted declaration of a state of emergency in the country and vowed to challenge the orders in court.

“In the meantime, Cord will rightfully ignore the continued unconstitutional and illegal orders of the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Security,” he said.