IEBC commissioners could leave office by November
What you need to know:
Sources at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission made the revelation as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms tried to strike a deal on sticky issues that had delayed completion of its work.
The polls body commissioners, it was said, settled on the November date which is exactly one year to the end of their term in 2017. As part of the preparations, it was said a team from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the Attorney General’s chambers was working on their compensation package.
The electoral agency commissioners will leave office in November to pave the way for a new team to supervise next year’s elections.
Sources at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said this as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms tried to strike a deal on sticky issues that had delayed completion of its work.
The polls body commissioners, it was said, settled on the November date which is exactly one year to the end of their term in 2017. As part of the preparations, it was said a team from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the Attorney General’s chambers was working on their compensation package.
“They are ready and are waiting for the parliamentary select committee’s report. They will be out of office from November because it is an anniversary to them,” said a source who cannot not be named.
The commissioners, led by their chairman Mr Ahmed Issack Hassan, last week agreed to resign as the government undertook to craft a compensation package for their exit.
MEET TEAM
On Friday, they are expected to meet the parliamentary select team co-chaired by Senators Kiraitu Murungi (Meru) and James Orengo (Siaya) as the team prepares to finalise its report.
On Thursday, the team, which draws membership from the Jubilee and Cord coalitions, sought direction from President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga respectively.
Mr Odinga, who met the Cord team in the company of his co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula said: ‘We want it to be a win-win situation,” he said.
Cord members of the team were reportedly unhappy with announcement of a deal between them and Jubilee, even before the informal agreement was formalised and signed.
They were reported to have been considering pushing for a concession from Jubilee on grounds they had agreed to drop the proposal to have commissioners nominated directly by parties and civil society.
Their dilemma was that they did not want to be seen to have gone back on agreements yet they felt they had conceded too much in the informal discussions earlier in the week.
On the other hand, the Jubilee Coalition was set to propose the removal of the condition that the firm to audit the voters’ register be an international one.
They argued that there is enough expertise locally and the voters’ roll could easily be cleaned by having voters check their details while any lost data could be replaced and names of dead voters removed.
By early evening on Thursday, the Cord side was reported to be in a meeting as their Jubilee counterparts waited.
