The Senator for Busia County, Okiya Omtatah has gone to court seeking a petition for an injunction to halt the current appointment of the Chairperson and six members of the IEBC Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The busia senator wants the court to overturn legislation that changed the makeup of the selection panel that supervises the recruitment of IEBC commissioners.
He requests that the IEBC (Amendment) Act No.1 of 2023 be declared illegal because lawmakers ignored the Senate's Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, and Human Rights report when they approved the law in January 2023.
The legal challenge comes amid opposition leader Raila Odinga's calls to stop the recruitment process and involve all political parties, even though the law already allows for the selection mechanism.
Mr Omtatah's appeal has been declared urgent by High Court judge Mugure Thande, who has also ordered him to provide the court documents to the Attorney-General, the Speaker of the Senate, and the Selection Panel so they can submit their answers.
In the interim, Mr Omtatah requests that the court halt any operations of the Selection Panel, including the current appointment of the IEBC chairperson and members and any subsequent actions and activities.
He also requests that the court issue a temporary order prohibiting the panel, headed by Dr Nelson Makanda, from naming anyone or sending the names of successful candidates to the President for nomination as the Chairperson and members of the IEBC.
There have been 925 applications for the empty posts of chairman and six election commission members. There were 25 candidates for the post of Chairperson. Omtatah wants the court to bar the President from appointing anyone that will be appointed from the lot that applied.
In his petition to the High Court in Milimani Nairobi, the Senator says the law is invalid because senators passed it without considering the Senate's Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights report.
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