All electoral chiefs are ready to quit: Vice-chair

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Vice-Chairperson Lilian Mahiri-Zaja addresses the press during a meeting with the parliamentary committee on delegated legislation at the PrideInn Paradise hotel in Mombasa on June 24, 2016. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • IEBC Vice-Chairperson Lilian Mahiri Zaja says its nine commissioners have made the decision because they “will not let the country disintegrate”.
  • This comes amid ongoing deliberations between the opposition Cord and ruling Jubilee on the fate of the electoral body.

All electoral commissioners have expressed their willingness to go home as long as their departure is within the legal framework.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Vice-Chairperson Lilian Mahiri-Zaja said the nine commissioners had made the decision because they “will not let the country disintegrate”.

She said: “Tuko tayari, hatuwezi tukaiacha nchi yetu ikawa na shida kwa sababu ya watu tisa (We are ready, we cannot not let our country have a problem because of nine people)”.

Ms Mahiri-Zaja was speaking in Kehancha in Migori at an anti-female genital mutilation (FGM) advocacy training. She said since the matter was already a subject of discussion by a parliamentary select committee, the officials would be bound by its decision.

“As a commission, we hope the row will be resolved immediately, within the legal provisions,” she said. “Our stay in office should not undermine peace in the country.”

This comes amid ongoing deliberations between the opposition Cord and ruling Jubilee coalitions on the fate of the electoral body.

Cord politicians have alleged that the IEBC is supporting the Jubilee administration and, therefore, it cannot be trusted to conduct free and fair elections next year.

Already, four commissioners are said to have offered to resign just as the select committee consisting of seven MPs from either side was getting ready for talks on the IEBC.

Mr Yusuf Nzibo, Mr Albert Bwire, Mr Kule Galma Godana and Mr Abdullahi Sharawe are said to have written to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday last week declaring their readiness to quit.

The four said they wanted to avoid being dragged through the process initiated by Parliament to remove them from office. The letter was delivered to the Head of the Public Service Joseph Kinyua.

As part of their condition for resigning, the four have asked to be paid cumulative sum of salaries they would have earned had they served their full term.

They also want to be paid gratuity for the work they have done and additional payment as compensation because they feel their reputations have been damaged.

At the same function in Kehancha, former Marakwet East MP and the current Anti-FGM Board Chairperson Lina Jebii Kilimo asked members of the Kuria community to shun female cut, describing it as “retrogressive and an outdated rite of passage”.

“The culture interferes with the education of girl-child because the initiates are usually married off soon after facing the knife,” she stated.

Ms Kilimo at the same time warned law enforcers – including the police and chiefs- of dire consequences, should they fail to implement the anti- FGM laws in Kuria West and Kuria East sub-counties.

“You will be held responsible for the FGM cases reported in your areas. Execute you duties without fear and favour to bring to an end FGM in this region,” she told the security agencies.