House Committee throws out petition to disband IEBC

House Committee throws out petition to disband IEBC

The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) has thrown out a petition on removal of  Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners filed by activist Barasa Nyukuri.

The committee said in its report that the petition had not provided sufficient evidence to prove it’s ground for removal of the commissioners for alleged incompetence and gross misconduct.

The committee said the specific paragraphs in the Auditor General’s special investigative report on procurement of BVR kits and electronic voter identification devices that seemed to cite the chairman and commissioners in the taxpayers a loss of  Ksh 3 billion had been expunged following a ruling by High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola and hence inadmissible.

“Upon due considerations and review of the presentations and materials availed to the committee, the Committee did not find a prima facie case filed against the Chairperson and eight Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for incompetence and lack of integrity or violation of any laws and resolved to recommend to the House that the matter together with the petition should not be recommended to the President to appoint a Tribunal,” read the committee’s findings in part.

Nyukuri had heavily relied on the report in his petition and had identified two grounds for the removal of the nine commissioners from office saying they are incompetent and lack integrity to handle elections.

“This petition states that because of the incompetence, the IEBC chairman, other eight commissioners and senior secretariat staff did not correctly interpret, internalise and effectively execute the powers and functions of the commission as stipulated in the constitution,” said Nyukuri.

Nyukuri had named the nine commissioners he wanted removed from office as Issack Hassan (chairman), Lilian Mahiri- Zaja (vice chairperson), Albert Bwire, Kule Godana, Yusuf Nzibo and Abdullahi Sharawe.

Others are Thomas Letangule, Muthoni Wangai and Mohamed Alawi.

The commission CEO Ezra Chiloba and senior managers had also been targeted for removal.

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IEBC Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission JLAC Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Barasa Nyukuri

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