File| Nation Although Dr Ekuru Aukot, the chair of the panel was nominated to the team by the PM, Dr Aukot has declared he is impartial and is after the public good.
By KIPCHUMBA SOME ksome@ke.nationmedia.co.ke
Posted Saturday, September 17 2011 at 22:00
Posted Saturday, September 17 2011 at 22:00
IN SUMMARY
- Two panelists among those picking election members are appointees of the PM, including the chairman
Suspicion that the Orange Democratic Party is cleverly crafting a friendly electoral body ahead of next year’s General Election is the cause of grumbling by politicians allied to the Party of National Unity over shortlisted candidates to the yet-to-be formed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Interviews with politicians from both sides of the political divide, revealed that PNU is wary that Prime Minister Raila Odinga could be seeking to influence the next elections in his favour by appointing commissioners friendly to him.
PNU and a section of rebel ODM MPs have protested the exclusion of five commissioners of the outgoing Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) from a short list released by a panel mandated to select the nine commissioners to the IEBC.
Only three commissioners from the IIEC were shortlisted while another five, who had also applied for the posts, failed to make it to the list. The three are Dr Yusuf Nzibo, Mr Abiud Simiyu and Mr Ken Nyaundi.
Those who did not make the cut are Mr Davis Mwashigadi, Ms Winfred Guchu, Mr Davis Chirchir and Mr Tiyah Galgalo.
Soon after the list was released, a section of MPs, including Eldoret North’s William Ruto criticised the selection panel, chaired by Dr Ekuru Aukot, for excluding the five.
“The IIEC carried out a referendum successfully, they carried out several by-elections successfully, these are not easy processes, and that now they are not shortlisted raises the questions whether the selections are free and fair,” posed Mr Ruto.
Speaking on Friday in Karen when PNU leaders met to prepare for next year’s elections, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta also cast aspersions on the manner in which the selection was done.
“Some of the things that we are seeing in the process of picking these candidates are not very satisfying. We want to see more accountability and transparency in that process; we don’t want to see a situation where people sit in a little corner and decide who makes it,” argued Mr Kenyatta.
But speaking on the same day in his Lang’ata constituency, Mr Odinga supported the process. The PM pointed out that poor management of the elections was partly to blame for the post-election violence after the 2007 General Election.
“This time round we have said we want to choose a good referee and unlike the last election, this time we plan to score from a good distance,” he said at Olympic Primary School.
Whether the claims by PNU have merit or not, in hindsight, some say it was probably unwise to have the two principals — President Kibaki and Mr Odinga — select nominees to the selection panel.
President Kibaki nominated Prof Marion Mutugi and Mr Mwanyengela Ngali. On his part, Mr Odinga nominated Dr Aukot and Ms Rose Akinyi Buyu.
“I had my own reservations from the start about that requirement,” says Nominated MP Amina Abdalla (ODM-K) “Political appointments in to such sensitive jobs will invariably generate unnecessary debates with political overtones,” she added.
Complaints by PNU and the ODM rebels stem from suspicions that ODM is using Dr Aukot to craft a pro-Raila electoral team.
Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo says the claims lack merit since the chair does not make decisions alone. She noted that it is ODM that ought to be complaining since “in my view most of those commissioners who were left out were pro-ODM.”
Dr Aukot has repeatedly stated that he is impartial.
Other members of the selection panel include Justice Isaac Lenaola, Ms Irene Keino and Ms Sophie Moturi.
Ms Abdala complained of “possible candidates in the next elections picking their referees.” She did not elaborate, but her comments were possibly directed at Ms Buyu who contested the Kisumu Town West seat in the last elections and lost.
This tussle is perhaps a reminder of how far Kenya’s politics has come since the last General Election and the fickleness of it. In the run-up to the 2007 elections, it was Mr Odinga and ODM complaining about President Kibaki and PNU fixing the poll.
Defunct commission
The President had appointed commissioners to the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya without consulting other political parties as demanded an agreement in 1997 between then President Daniel Moi and the opposition.
President Kibaki’s action laid the stage for ODM to claim that the election was rigged. Whether these claims had any basis is neither here nor there, the fact is that they considerably raised political temperatures and suspicions about the elections.
The disputed result of those elections is directly blamed by some for the violence that erupted thereafter, claiming more than 1,300 lives.
Now a year to the next election the shoe is on the other leg. For the second time in as many months, Mr Odinga has come under criticism from PNU for allegedly plotting to skew the next elections in his favour.
A month ago, PNU MPs accused ODM of seeking to influence the outcome of the next General Election by embarking on a smear campaign of IIEC commissioners.
This followed a series of articles criticising IIEC chairman Isaack Hassan, which was linked to Mr Odinga’s former advisor on Coalition Affairs Miguna Miguna.
Mr Hassan said an internal investigation had traced the origin of the articles to the laptop of Mr Allan Odongo, personal secretary of IIEC chairman James Oswago.
Mr Odinga acted swiftly by suspending Mr Miguna and affirming his believe in the IIEC and Mr Odongo was suspended.
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