Why Chebukati changed opinion on the quorum at the polling agency :: Kenya

The electoral commission has made a similar turn as the three commissioners, legally declaring that it can make decisions.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) also denied contempt of court on the grounds that the reinstatement order of the Secretary of the Commission, Ezra Chiloba, was not made to him. notified.

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The electoral agency had decried that the lack of replacement of the commissioners who left the commission for various reasons made it difficult the quorum of the plenary session for the making of key political decisions.

Commissioners Wafula Chebukati (President), Boya Molu and Prof Abdi Guliye told the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly (JLAC) that after seeking legal and expert advice they are now free to operate in full committee.

Despite the fact that the IEBC Act puts a quorum for a plenary meeting of the meeting at four hours after the law has been amended to pbad the commissioners from nine to seven.

Chebukati at the same time warned that the activities of the commission might be halted because they had not received any more money from the Treasury since April.

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"We have outstanding bills of 1.4 billion shillings and have not even paid those who have provided us with various materials for the general election of last year," he said. Mr. Chebukati.

Chebukati, while he was appearing before William Cheptumo led JLAC, stated that they had sought the legal opinion of Attorney General Paul Kihara, but were informed that it was only after an outstanding quorum case to the High Court that it is possible to conclude legal opinion.

"We asked for a legal opinion from the Attorney General and he said that he would give his opinion only after the decision of petition 165 of 2018. The petitioner argues that the commission, such as 39, it is currently constituted, can not preside at any by-election "says Chebukati.

There are three by-elections in the boroughs of Baringo Sud (National Assembly), North Kadem and Bobasi Chache in Migori and Kisii Counties respectively on August 17, next month.

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The Commission could be disarmed if the High Court were to rule against the composition of the Electoral Commission.

According to Chebukati, the commission relied on internal and external legal experts to continue the work despite four vacancies following the resignations of Roselyne Akombe, Margaret Mwachanya, Connie Maina and Paul Kurgat.

"We relied on Article 250 of the Constitution, and the Commission, as it is now constituted, has three members that the Constitution allows to preside over the commission," said Mr. Chebukati.

The Vice-Chair of the Committee, Alice Wahome (Kandara) and Olago Aluoch (Kisumu West), interpreted Chebukati's Article 250 (I) as stipulating that each commission should be composed of at least three, but not more than nine.

The duo argued that the law is general for all commissions on its composition, but IEBC Act is the enabling statute that governs the governance of the electoral agency and operations that can not be interpreted in general .

"The law you are talking about is activated by the IEBC Act.You can not interpret and act on the basis of a legal opinion in total disregard of the law on the IEBC which sets the quorum of the commission to four, "said Aluoch.

Chebukati suspended Chiloba for the second time last month despite a court order allowing him to return to work.

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The president said he sent the secretary of the commission to power pending the completion of the full audit of all major markets related in the general elections of August 8, 2017 as well as the new presidential elections held on October 26, 2017.

Commissioner Boya Molu told the committee headed by William Cheptumo that the court order gave the commission flexibility to suspend Chiloba by using the Commission's human resource manuals.

"We did not receive the court order.But when we studied the decision, we consulted our legal team and suspended Chiloba using the human resources manuals.The suspension is purely based on the preliminary report of the internal audit investigations, "said Molu.

Molu argued that his preliminary findings of the internal audit revealed financial and supply shortfalls that if Chiloba was left in the office, could interfere with the investigations.

"We have nothing against the CEO, the suspension was made to give the investigators a free hand over their work, we did not convict anyone or find that he was guilty. could come back on the basis of the final report of the audit, "said Molu.

"The CEO will appear in front of the plenary to answer questions on the final audit report and we will determine whether he should answer or not," Molu added.

The commissioners said that they would stay put and would not give up any pressure to leave the office.

Answering a question from a member of the committee, John Kiarie, MP for Dagoretti South, asking that they resign to save the agony of recruiting new commissioners for the general election, the commissioner Guliye said the resignation of their colleagues was voluntary. to be removed from office on the basis of resignation.

"We have the impression that the resignation of our colleagues is used to force us to resign, we have committed no crime, we are legally in office and fulfill our constitutional mandate. should we ask is how vacancies will be filled and not why we will have to resign, "said Professor Guliye

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