The recent appointment of a seven-member committee to fill the vacancies at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has sparked a war of words between President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
On February 27, President Ruto appointed Bethuel Sugut, Novince Euralia Atieno, Charity S. Kisotu, Evans Misati James, Benson Ngugi Njeri, Nelson Makanda and Fatuma Saman to the panel.
The committee is mandated to oversee the recruitment of nominees for chairperson and commissioners of the IEBC. The appointment comes days after Odinga warned Ruto against undertaking such a move, while demanding a bipartisan task force to be put in place to oversee the restructuring of the electoral body.
“We must ensure that sanity is restored,” Odinga had said at a rally on February 22. In response, Ruto argued that nobody will be allowed to intimidate others in the country and urged Odinga to focus on the nation’s productivity.
The new commissioners will replace former Chairman Wafula Chebukati, his deputy Juliana Cherera, commissioners Boya Molu, Abdi
