More than 700 Kenyans have applied to fill the four vacant positions in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The chairperson of the Selection Panel Dr. Elizabeth Muli, in a press address on Tuesday, said the deadline for sending applications elapsed on Monday and now they will draw them together and publish the names of the applicants.
“We will now collate all the applicants and publish in the Kenya Gazette, two leading national newspapers and on the Parliamentary Service Commission website,” said Dr. Muli.
She added that due to the huge number of applicants, it will take a while to sort those who applied manually and electronically and they are looking forward to publishing the list by Monday next week.
“We will thereafter do the short listing and publish the names of those who would have been shortlisted, we will also require Kenyans to send memoranda on those that would be selected,” Dr. Muli said.
The 7-member selection panel has a tight timeline, and the Chairperson insists that they intend to keep them since the matter they are dealing with is of urgency.
The urgency of the matter came forthwith especially after the recent 5-judge bench High Court ruling that indicted IEBC for operating with only 3 commissioners terming it unconstitutional.
As per the timelines given, the panel is set to start the short listing exercise and will publish the list of the candidates on or about May 24, 2021; an exercise that is supposed to take 7 days for any Kenyan to send views on the shortlisted candidates.
The interviews for the shortlisted candidates will be conducted for five days from May 31 to June 4; a timeline the panel however noted could slightly vary given the number of candidates.
The panel hopes to settle on the successful candidates and forward the names to President Uhuru Kenyatta on or about June 9, 2021.