A divided House can’t give Kenyans reforms

It is clear now that the process for the establishment of new institutions to replace the disbanded Electoral Commission of Kenya is incurably tainted.

Parliaments’ rejection of the team nominated by a House committee to sit on the new Interim Independent Electoral Commission was not just about suitability, or otherwise, of individuals short-listed, but exposed the partisan divide that calls into question, the credibility of the entire process.

If Parliament is divided along party lines, it follows that an appointment process controlled by the House will always be fatally flawed.

If the appointment will be about which side can muster more votes, then it follows that whoever gets the nod to chair or sit on the interim bodies will never win the credibility test.

An electoral commission or constituency boundaries review commission managed by a group that got into office because it won the support of one faction of the divided coalition will not be independent; it will be beholden to a political grouping.

Unless a clear consensus can be reached, it might be time for Parliament to acknowledge that it has failed to provide us with the independent interim bodies demanded by the Kriegler report.

A Parliament that acknowledges it is incapable of running a selection process free of political manoeuvres should voluntarily surrender the responsibility, and hand over the task to an independent, neutral and professional outfit.

That might be the only way to insulate the process from the partisan politics on display with the impasse over the interim electoral commission.

Unless Parliament can abandon the political brinkmanship, it will never be capable of selecting the right persons for the job.

We must now think seriously about an alternative process for selecting, not just the interim electoral commissioners, but the remaining phases of reforms called for by the national accord.

The circus witnessed in Parliament so far strengthens the view that partisan politics at every turn makes us Kenyans incapable of resolving our problems.

Hence the need, sadly, for international monitors every step of the way.