For the position of Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) and the six commissioner roles, more than 920 candidates have expressed interest.

PHOTO | COURTESY Makanda says they have received 920 applications for the IEBC Commissioners' posts

The deadline for applications to be submitted for consideration was March 28. Nelson Makanda served as the panel's chairperson.

Of the 920 candidates, 25 expressed a desire to fill the position of chairperson, while 895 people are competing for the commissioner position.

"This is a good number because just 15 people applied in 2016 when the Chebukati commission was being interviewed, so they had to run an advertisement again and received about 30 applicants. The chair's applications are unimportant to us", Makanda said.

Even with calls for the activity to be carried out, the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition stopped, and the IEBC reconstituting panel insisted that they would fill the vacant commission.

PHOTO | COURTESY Makanda is the chair of the panel

Makanda emphasized that Kenyans' numerous applications showed their confidence in the current effort to reassemble the election body.

"We have applications from every county, which only shows that people are confident in the procedure".

"As long as politics are contested, someone has to carry out this duty", according to Makanda.

"We must be able to set up a commission, and when lawmakers reach an agreement, they may modify the legislation. Kenyans would then obey the new law." We are devoted to the mission, he declared.

The hiring process was initiated when the six-year terms of IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati, Commissioners Abdi Guliye, and Commissioner Boya Molu expired last month.

After charges of constitutional violations and severe misconduct during the most recent general election, three other polls Last year, several officials left their positions, notably Justus Nyang'aya, Francis Wanderi, and former IEBC vice-chair Juliana Cherera.

The President terminated Commissioner Irene Masit's appointment on the advice of the tribunal set up to look into her behaviour during the August elections.

The panel ruled that Masit and her coworkers engaged in grave misconduct by publicly disowning the presidential results proclaimed by the former IEBC head.

PHOTO | COURTESY Makanda says panel receives 920 applications

According to our analysis of the evidence on file, Commissioner Irene Masit's actions on August 15, 2022, when she agreed to the two delegations' proposal to moderate the outcome of the presidential election to enable a rerun with the promise of a reward if this was done, constituted gross misconduct on her part.