The physique selecting Kenya’s election fee is being overhauled – how this might strengthen democracy

Kenya has new guidelines for selecting the individuals who run its elections.

President William Ruto has signed into legislation the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill. It modifications the composition of the panel that selects folks to serve on the nation’s Unbiased Electoral and Boundaries Fee.

The commission is a state establishment that has the duty of enhancing and supporting constitutional democracy in Kenya. It conducts elections, registers residents as voters and maintains the voters’ roll. It additionally fixes the boundaries of electoral constituencies and wards. It settles electoral disputes, registers candidates for election and conducts voter schooling.

However because it was established in 2011, the fee has been on the centre of Kenya’s historical past of post-election violence.

In 2013, 2017 and 2022, the shedding political events accused it of failing to manage elections pretty and lawfully.

In 2017, the Kenyan supreme court docket accused the fee of “bungling” the presidential election. Within the 2022 elections, the then vice-chairperson of the fee, Juliana Cherera, disowned the results of the presidential ballot earlier than the official announcement.

Raila Odinga, who misplaced that ballot, referred to as for reforms that will make the electoral fee a a lot fairer referee of the nation’s elections.

Learn extra: Raila Odinga should be thanked – his election losses helped deepen Kenya’s democracy

The brand new legislation seeks to streamline the process of appointing members to the electoral fee, making the choice course of extra participatory and reflective of the nation’s variety.

And it comes at a essential second. Seven commissioner positions are presently vacant.

A weak electoral company poses 4 main threats to Kenya’s democracy: it would fail to ship honest, free and credible elections; it would disrupt enhancements within the nation’s transition to democracy; it would delay the tradition of post-election violence; and it’ll divide the nation’s various ethnocultural teams.

It’s, due to this fact, important that the Unbiased Electoral and Boundaries Fee be a robust and totally functioning organisation staffed by Kenyans who’re devoted to democratic governance.

What’s altering beneath the brand new legislation

Choosing electoral commissioners is a fancy job.

The brand new legislation brings extra unbiased commissioners and associations into the choice course of. Beforehand, solely three companies nominated the seven commissioners: the Parliamentary Service Commission, the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya and the Law Society of Kenya. Now there are 5. The newcomers are the Political Parties Liaison Committee and the Public Service Commission. They open the door for political events and the general public service to take part on this essential course of.

It’s essential that the choice panel consists of state and non-state organisations that promote election integrity. Solely people who’re residents of Kenya and meet the integrity necessities in Chapter 6 of the structure can serve on the choice panel. These people should maintain a level from a college recognised in Kenya.

The vacancies

Three of the present vacancies within the fee have been anticipated: these commissioners’ phrases had expired. However 4 different commissioners stop beneath a cloud of suspicion.

Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya and Francis Wanderi resigned after being suspended for their conduct through the 2022 election. They’d alleged that fee chairperson Wafula Chebukati had altered poll results in favour of Ruto. One other commissioner, Irene Masit, was additionally suspended. She now has charges pending in opposition to her earlier than a tribunal investigating the matter.

Why elections matter

Elections are a cornerstone of any democracy. They assist a nation construct and maintain democratic and development-enhancing establishments.

They’re a verify on authorities. Elections put the ability in peculiar folks’s fingers to vary their authorities and select simpler leaders for public service. In addition they give traditionally marginalised teams a voice.

To carry out these capabilities, elections should meet sure minimal requirements. They have to be common, honest, free, aggressive, inclusive, clear and credible. They have to be carried out in strict conformity with the structure.

That’s why a robust, unbiased and functioning electoral company is so important.

Dangers of dysfunction

In Kenya, a weak and dysfunctional electoral fee would have dire penalties.

First, the failure to conduct elections which can be thought of by nearly all of Kenyans as free, honest and credible might result in the kind of violence that the nation skilled after the 2007 presidential election. Greater than 1,000 folks died.

Second, a weak fee can derail enhancements in Kenya’s electoral system. A robust fee units codes of conduct for candidates and political events. This helps guard in opposition to varied types of political opportunism, together with corruption.

Learn extra: Fears of election rigging may fuel further abuses in Kenya: democracy could be the loser

Third, a dysfunctional electoral fee may be manipulated by politicians and their supporters to monopolise political areas. This case has performed out in Cameroon, the place the ruling celebration has marginalised the opposition to stay in energy since 1990. Equally, in Togo, President Faure Gnassingbé has monopolised political areas since 2005.

Fourth, in Kenya, the electoral fee is liable for creating electoral boundaries. Any weak point within the fee may be exploited to create boundaries that profit sure politicians and their supporters. This is able to undermine democracy and create mistrust within the nation’s democratic establishments.

The brand new legislation doesn’t meet the expectations of all of Kenya’s political constituencies – some people and teams consider that their voice within the choice panel has been diluted. Nonetheless, it’s essential for all Kenyans to recognise these reforms as an effort in the appropriate course – in direction of a stronger and extra inclusive fee.