Ruto ignores Judiciary, gazettes appointment of IEBC chairperson and commissioners
Justice Mugambi had allowed their vetting but blocked gazettement of the new IEBC chiefs until a case filed by a petitioner is heard and determined.
President William Ruto has gazetted the appointment of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson and commissioners despite a court order barring the same.
In a special gazette notice published yesterday, President Ruto appointed Erastus Edung Ethekon as the Chairperson and Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah as commissioners of the IEBC for a term of six years.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 250(2) as read with Section 5(2) of the IEBC Act and Paragraph 4 of the First Schedule, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, appoint Erastus Edung Ethekon as Chairperson of IEBC and Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah to serve as members of the IEBC for a six-year term,” the notice read in part.
The appointment by President Ruto contravenes an order by the High Court, which blocked the gazettement of the new IEBC chiefs until the case is heard and determined.
The three-judge bench, consisting of Justices Roselyne Aburili, Bahati Mwamuye, and John Chigiti, upheld an earlier order issued by Justice Lawrence Mugambi, which halted the gazettment, and directed the parties to appear in court on the 23rd of this month.
Earlier, Justice Mugambi had ruled that a petition filed by activists Boniface Mwangi and Kelvin Roy, through their lawyers Paul Muite and Douglas Otieno, raises serious constitutional questions regarding how the IEBC selection panel conducted its business.
The two filed the petition following the nomination of the seven as Chairperson and Commissioners by the head of state.
Mugambi had referred the matter to Chief Justice Martha Koome for the empanelment of a bench to hear the petition, and the bench agreed with his earlier decision to halt the gazettment of their appointment as it allowed the vetting by the National Assembly’s Legal and Justice Affairs Committee.
