It is only Wafula Chebukati, Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye remaining in office as IEBC commissioners after the dramatic exit of Roselyn Akombe, vice chairperson Consolata Nkatha, Margret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat.
In its self-assessment that largely shifts blame on the mismanagement of the 2017 polls to other stakeholders, the IEBC says it has learned from past mistakes and would build on the challenges to deliver credible polls in 2022.
It says electoral law changes should be completed two years to the next election to allow adequate time for implementation.
Following a political standoff pitting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubile Party and Nasa chief Raila Odinga, amid claims of a plot to rig the 2017 presidential polls, a raft of laws and regulations were passed by Parliament as late as April that year.
The political class built consensus and enacted the Electoral Laws (amendment) Act 2017 and the Election Technology Regulations 2017.
The legal reforms sought to address gaps and ambiguities in the law which posed challenges in the effective management of the 2013 General Election.
“The late amendments of electoral laws for the August 8, 2017 General Election interfered with electoral timelines thus affecting the planning and implementation of electoral activities. This was also witnessed during the 2013 General Election,” the IEBC report says.
One its radical proposals is a two-tier General Election, so that national and county elections are conducted on different dates to avoid fatigue among election officials.
“The conduct of six elections in one day was reported by poll officials to affect the counting and tallying process. These processes were reported to take long. Some of the errors that occurred were attributed to fatigue among poll officials. Similar observations were made in the 2013 General Election,” the commission says.
However, for the country to introduce a two-tier election regime, Parliament must first amend the Constitution to separate presidential elections from other polls.
According to the IEBC, the elections of president and MPs – being national elections – could be held on a different day from those of governor and MCAs.
“An election of the president shall be held on the same day as a general election of Members of Parliament, being the second Tuesday in August, in every fifth year,” reads Article 136(2) (b) of the Constitution.
Article 180 (1) provides that the election of governor shall be held on the same day as a general election of Members of Parliament.
The IEBC is also pushing for the extension of the deadline for the determination of presidential election petitions “to allow more realistic time for the preparation of cases, results publication and full due process in court, including possibility of recount.”
The current law provides for seven days within which a presidential petition must be lodged at the Supreme Court after the declaration of official presidential results by the IEBC and 14 days for the hearing and determination.