Moses Kuria proposes Eliud Wabukala to take over as IEBC chair

A section of Jubilee Members of Parliament led by Gatundu South’s Moses Kuria now want retired head of the Anglican Church in Kenya, Eliud Wabukala, to over as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) boss.

Speaking at Pan Paper grounds in Lugari Constituency on Sunday, Kuria – who was in the company of Lugari MP Ayub Savula and his Mathare counterpart Stephen Kariuki – said that the electoral commission boss must be a neutral person, exhibit high integrity and be a respectable person.

Kuria further urged the opposition to accept the current process on the disbandment IEBC or allow the current commissioners to oversee next year’s General Election.

Kuria, who attended a church service at the Litein Africa Inland Church (AIC) in Bureti before heading to Lugari, dismissed the opposition’s proposal seeking to give political parties powers to nominate candidates to the re-constituted electoral body.

The member of the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on IEBC also dismissed the opposition’s recommendations that the presidential election results be announced at polling stations instead of the National Tallying Centre in Nairobi.

Also present was Water CS Eugene Wamalwa who supported a dignified exit for IEBC commissioners.

Wamalwa, however, called for a sober approach in reconstituting the commission before the 2017 General Election.

On his part, Lugari MP, Ayub Savula, asked the church to pray for the country in order to achieve a smooth transition from the current IEBC to its successor.

Last week, commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) led by their chair, Ahmed Issack Hassan, expressed their readiness to go home saying they will support any dignified process for their exit.

“The country is bigger than any of us and if there will be a political settlement, the commission will not be a stumbling block,” said Hassan.