• A whisper on recalling Members of Parliament has been silenced by the lack of an Electoral Commission to facilitate the submission of signatures, having solved the riddle, the necessary ammunition is at the citizens’ disposal.

Following President Ruto’s assent to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Amendment Bill on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, there has been a series of discussions surrounding the subject matter.

The IEBC Amendment Bill is among nine other proposals incorporated within the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report, presented late last year (November 2023). The Commission is expected to have nine officials, up from Chebukati’s previous seven-member team.

Too little too late? Why has the assent been behindhand? Why the procrastination?

Daisy Amdany, Executive Director at the Community Advocacy and Awareness (CRAWN) Trust, has questioned the assent timing, saying, “It ought to have happened ages ago.” She additionally denounced the recklessness surrounding the Electoral Board, stating, “The fact that the commissioners were sent away without a plan to replace them is an act of irresponsibility.”

Amdany has opposed the proposed budget cuts for the IEBC, hinting at a misplacement of priorities by the country's leadership. She has further confirmed her confidence in having the Commission set ahead of the August 2026 deadline, aligning her belief with the saying, ‘Where there is a will, there is a way.’

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However, Arnold Maliba, Strategic Communications Advisor, United Democratic Alliance (UDA), has voiced his discontent with the IEBC fabric, giving an inkling of how it is similar to the previous ones, prophesying the recurrence of issues encompassing elections.

“If you look at the proposed IEBC structure, it almost looks like an audit firm, as in we know how to count money but when it comes to counting votes, that’s where we have a problem,” he said.

He has also expressed his admiration for the superior oversight – Gen Zs, terming them the cure to IEBC’s rebranding ailment, signaling a problem in the country’s trust deficiency.

A whisper on recalling Members of Parliament has been silenced by the lack of an Electoral Commission to facilitate the submission of signatures, having solved the riddle, the necessary ammunition is at the citizens’ disposal.