Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairperson Wafula Chebukati on Thursday said that he, together with his commissioners, will not leave the office until 2023 when their contract expires.
Speaking during the 6th Annual Continental Forum of Election Management Bodies in Nairobi, Chebukati said he had not read the Building Bridges(BBI) report on electoral reforms and affirmed that they won’t leave the office until theirtenure comes to an end.
“I have been so occupied with the continental forum of election management bodies so I had no time to read the BBI report.
“I will have to look at it of course but you remember we came to office in January 2017 and our six years term expires in 2023. So we will serve until our contract expires,” said Chebukati.
Chebukati’s daring remarks come at a time when the commission is lacking the requisite numbers of commissioners with the appointment of its Chief Executive Officer facing numerous hurdles.
The IEBC boss is operating only with two commissioners; Prof. Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu.
This is after four commissioners, Connie Maina, Margaret Mwachanya, Paul Kurgat and Roselyn Akombe, resigned over irreconcilable differences with the IEBC boss.
According to BBI recommendations, IEBC chair was given powers to appoint the CEO and commissioners.
However, they were to serve for a period of not more than three years meaning that they will most likely oversee one General Elections.
Also, the task force recommended that the constituencies returning officer to serve as part-time officials and handle only one General Election.
The BBI report also recommended that the IEBC boss should not necessarily be a lawyer but anyone with 15 years experience at a senior management level.