Certainly IEBC has erred, but is it the real problem?
What you need to know:
- This baby was still in the cradle when a mismanaged re-election almost killed it. This time Kivuitu had became the villain.
- In practice, the IEBC is still held hostage by a conglomerate of weak political parties, a weak rule of law, short-sighted political gains and a more or less independent media.
- Because President Moi dissolved Parliament early in 1997, not all the proposed reforms were enacted at that time.
Today’s world has become terribly efficient and practical.
Fast food, disposable items and electric washers have accelerated our capacity to focus on results and take little notice of anything that seems to be outside the “results” bracket, and governance is not an exception.
For the past 50 years, governments were focused on getting things done. If the economy grew, they were successful. Sustainability was a secondary concern, or so we thought, until bubbles started bursting, and the environment became irredeemably polluted.
Governance in Kenya was focused on the overconcentration of power on the presidency. Remaining in power was the primary concern of the leader and his aides and development was secondary.
The 2002 election was an amazing turning point. Kanu conceded defeat peacefully and Samuel Kivuitu became Kenya’s hero when he announced Mwai Kibaki as the winner.
For the first time since independence, Kanu would be in the opposition and this, for many, marked the birth of true democracy in Kenya.
This baby was still in the cradle when a mismanaged re-election almost killed it, transforming Kivuitu into a villain.
BLAMING DIAPERS
Fourteen short years have gone by since that peaceful 2002 election, but Kenya’s democracy is still a little baby. It needs care, concern, civility and affection if it is to survive.
In modern times, little babies use disposable diapers. Well, so does Kenya’s democracy. We turned the IEBC into our disposable nappies, which get all the filth ejected by other organs and are disposed of after every election.
The IEBC is at fault no matter what happens. If the party in government wins and the opposition loses, if the candidate rigs or is not allowed to rig, if the courts decide this or that, the IEBC is at fault and the IEBC must go.
This approach resonated more after the 2007 election mess. Certainly the IEBC has erred, but is the IEBC the real problem?
The role of non-partisan electoral bodies, free from party affiliation, bias, or designation, is key to the conduct of free and fair elections. Poorly managed elections cause untold damage to the legitimacy of emerging democracies.
In the past, the Executive used to run Kenya’s election machine. This changed gradually and the 2010 constitution sealed the electoral body’s independent status, in theory.
However, in practice, the IEBC is still held hostage by a conglomerate of weak political parties, weak rule of law and a more or less independent media.
Why is the IEBC the problem? Is it that it was not corrupt enough to let some candidates win, or that it was corrupt enough not to let some candidate rig? Did it count votes accurately?
It looks like we are blaming diapers for being dirty.
NO MORE SEDITION
What exactly is the IEBC all about and how did it come to be? In 1997, the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) had agreed on the implementation of a number of reforms before that year’s General Election.
The most important were the establishment of a truly independent electoral commission, the repeal of a number of laws restricting civil and political rights such as freedoms of association and expression by political parties, and the annulment of the use of the offence of sedition to clamp down on people who agitated for their rights.
These were only interim reforms to ensure fair elections, after which a comprehensive review would be undertaken.
Because President Moi dissolved Parliament early in 1997, not all the proposed reforms were enacted at that time, but the dream kept alive. Eventually, in 2010, we had a new Constitution.
In addition to the Constitution, our electoral system is governed by other laws, including the 2011 Elections Act, the IEBC Act, the 2011 Political Parties Act and the Election Campaign Financing Act of 2012.
Article 88 of the Constitution establishes the IEBC. Its role is to conduct or supervise elections to any elective body established by the Constitution and any other elections established by an Act of Parliament.
Like any constitutional commission, the IEBC is composed of nine commissioners, including the chair, and a secretariat, and to remove commissioners is practically impossible.
Next week, I will go into the reasons behind the commissioners' security of tenure and more importantly, the options we have going forward.
