36 Out of 700 Applicants Shortlisted for Four IEBC Commissioner Posts
36 candidates are set to compete for the four vacant positions in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The candidates were picked from a list of more than 700 Kenyans who applied for the four commissioner posts that were declared vacant by President Uhuru on April 16th.
At least 127 people who applied for the positions are holders of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees.
Among those who have been shortlisted is Dr. Salim Ndemo, a Washington University alumnus who previously served as a commissioner of the Public Service; Naisiae Tobiko, the Manager of Commission Services at IEBC; Kenya’s ambassador to Zimbabwe Lucy Jebet Chelimo; and Kenya’s deputy permanent representative to the UN Amb. Koki Muli.
Others are former Salaries and Remuneration Commissioner Sellestine Anna Mbii-Kiuluku; Dr. Rose Mumbua Musyoka, a commissioner with the National Land Commission; former Gwasi MP Felix Nyauchi; Former National Police Service Commission commissioner Murshid Abdalla; Professor Joseph Gitile Naituli; former Amnesty International director Justus Nyang’aya; former KNCHR Chairpersons Florence Jaoko and Kagwiria Mbogori; and lawyer Roseline Odede.
Oral interviews will be conducted by the IEBC selection panel at KICC on various dates between July 7th and July 22nd this year.
The four positions were left vacant following the resignation of IEBC Vice-Chairperson Consolata Nkatha and Commissioners Margaret Mwachanya, Paul Kurgat, and Roselyn Akombe.
Nkatha, Mwachanya, and Kurgat announced their resignation in a joint media briefing on April 16th, 2018, citing a lack of confidence in IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati.
Commissioner Akombe fled the country to the US from where she announced her resignation on October 18th, 2017, saying she feared for her life after receiving multiple threats. This came a week before the October 26th, 2017 repeat presidential election.
The resignation of the four left the commission with only three members—IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati and Commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Yakub Guliye.