18 August 2008
Nairobi — The Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman on Monday criticised the manner in which commissioners were appointed in the run-up to last year's General Election.
Mr Samuel Kivuitu told the Kriegler Commission that the appointments have contributed to the electoral agency's lack of credibility among the Kenyan public.
"I think we have to do something about the manner in which appointments are done," he said.
"The commission should be established in a way that makes it credible," he continued, adding that "you must involve others who can play a role in the appointment of commissioners."
He was referring to the appointment of new commissioners by President Kibaki in November 2007, just a month before the General Election.
President Kibaki appointed 17 new commissioners without consulting opposition parties, violating the spirit of the 1997 Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group deal.
Mr Kivuitu said that appointments to the ECK should meet international standards.
"If you do that, you are likely to create a basis of respect and trust," he said.
He added: "I would like to see the ECK having its own credibility on the basis of how it is formed and what it does."
Mr Kivuitu was responding to questions from Mr Yohane Masara, an assisting counsel to the Independent Review Commission headed by retired South African judge Johann Kriegler.
Formal hearings
Monday was the first day of formal hearings during which witnesses must answer questions under oath.
Asked about whether he feels the structure of ECK should be changed, Mr Kivuitu said that the commission should reflect the diversity of Kenya.
He noted that he had given the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission several proposals, including the reduction of the number of commissioners from 22 to 12, coupled with the strengthening of local offices.
He said he also proposed the appointment of people of integrity who "have held positions of leadership at a certain level."
"Integrity is so important for this job... to me, it is important that they should be of impeccable integrity," he added.
Mr Kivuitu also said that appointments should be made well in advance of elections.
"It is no good to appoint people when there is not enough time for them to prepare for the election," he said, adding that "the General Election is not something you just wake up and start doing."
Mr Kivuitu also stressed the need for security of tenure, saying it was the only way ECK officials could do their job properly.
The Kriegler commission also heard that the commission may this year not conduct the continuous voter registration.
Mr Kivuitu said the commission would overhaul the register since it was not clean, despite constant updating.
He also revealed that part of funds set aside for the registration had been taken up by recent by-elections in Embakasi, Ainamoi, Emuhaya, Kilgoris and Wajir North constituencies.
Said Mr Kivuitu: "We want to make our registers as accurate as possible."
He added: "The commission wants to remove dead voters from the current registers and it is only by starting the process afresh that we shall realise this."
The overhaul of the current voters register is in line with the current constitutional requirement, that a new register be compiled every 10 years.
The current continuous register was first prepared in 1997, when the voter registration data capture and storage was computerised.
On Monday, Mr Kivuitu said the commission had so far removed 531,000 people from the voters roll.
As at November last year, statistics from ECK also showed that there were 14,296,180 registered voters and about 138,000 double-multiple voters.
Mr Kivuitu said the continuous voter registration would only be effective if the Government gave enough funds.
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