A petition has been filed at the High Court of Kenya on Wednesday 14 May 2025 challenging the nomination of Erastus Edung Ethekon as Chairman and six others as Commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The petition states that the nominations violate several constitutional provisions including failure to reflect Kenya’s ethnic and regional diversity, exclusion of persons with disabilities, and was made without consulting the opposition, thus violating the Constitution, the IEBC (Amendment) Act, and recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee Report.
President Ruto, early this month, nominated Erastus Edung Ethekon as IEBC Chairperson and named Anne Nderitu, Moses Mukwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor, Francis Odhiambo, and Fahima Abdalla as Commissioners.
The petitioners Kelvin Roy Omondi and Boniface Mwangi now cast aspersions as to the integrity of the nominees and credibility of the nomination process which saw five additional names of nominees “sneaked in” unprocedurally.
They further argue that the Chairman Erastus Edung Ethekon could have benefitted from nepotism seeing that he was the Legal Attorney at Turkana County Government during the reign of former Governor Ethuro who is now Deputy Chief of Staff at State House, Nairobi.
“The nominations do not meet the requirements of Articles 10, 27(1), 232, and 250(3) & (4) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, which call for regional balance, ethnic inclusivity, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities,” the court papers state.
Illegal and unconstitutional, the petitioners have termed the new IEBC outfit, seeking conservatory orders from the court to suspend the vetting and approval of the nominees. They claim there is an imminent risk that the National Assembly may proceed to vet and approve the nominees, despite the flawed nature of the nomination process.
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