After intense lobbying by members of the clergy and diplomats, opposition leaders softened their hard stance and called off their weekly demonstrations in favour of dialogue. The two main Coalitions- Jubilee and Cord who are antagonists in the IEBC debate agreed to form a team to iron out the electoral contentious issues before they are discussed in Parliament.
1st June: Parliament reduced the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) budget by Ksh 450 Million. The Chair of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Hon Chepkonga stated that the reduction will not impact on the Commission’s preparations for 2017 General Elections.
2nd June: Cord named a five member team to engage Jubilee in talks to disband IEBC. Cord team comprised Senator James Orengo, Senator Johnson Muthama, Hon Eseli Simiyu, Hon Mishi Mboko and Hon Abdikadir Aden. The team was named despite President Kenyatta denying any agreement between him and Mr. Odinga to have such a team to solve the IEBC conundrum. At the same time, Amani National Congress leader Mr. Musalia Mudavadi warned that “gentleman’s agreement’ between politicians will not solve the electoral commission’s stalemate.
3rd June: A bill to give political parties a voice in appointing commissioners of the electoral body was prepared by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and taken to the government printer. Another bill that seeks to increase the period set by the Constitution to determine a presidential election petition from 14 days to 30 days was also tabled.
4th June: During the National Prayer Breakfast religious leaders led by National Council of Churches of Kenya General Secretary Rev Canon Peter Karanja, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops – Bishop Alfred Rotich and Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims Secretary General Adan Wachu pleaded with politicians to give dialogue a chance. The members of the clergy vowed to soldier on with the mediation path until an amicable solution is found.
8th June: The Cabinet Secretary for Interior Security banned opposition demonstrations. In a quick rejoinder the opposition chiefs rubbished the ban and vowed to continue with the protests until IEBC is reconstituted. To add salt into injury the opposition increased the number of protest days from once per week to twice per week.
8th June: The United Kingdom advised its citizens visiting Kenya to be vigilant due to the ongoing wave of opposition protests. The advisory note stated that more protests are planned in other cities in the coming months. The advisory may hurt Kenya’s tourism sector.
13th June: The electoral body got set to upgrade its systems so as to make transmissions of the 2017 poll results efficient. The Commission has invited companies’ to bid for the upgrade of its results management system and data centre. The upgrade is estimated to cost Ksh 250 million. When in place the new system is expected to ensure that the voter register and elections results are secure and readily available for retrieval.
23rd June: The opposition Cord and the ruling Jubilee coalition ceded ground and agreed to form a team to steer dialogue on the IEBC stalemate. The 14 members select team is supposed to come up with recommendations that will ensure 2017 elections are free and fair. A motion to be tabled in Parliament will give the team the legal mandate to:
i) Recommend legal, policy and institutional reforms to strengthen the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC),
ii)Improve the electoral system and process so as to ensure the August 2017 elections are free and fair; and
iii) Ensure the elections are administered in an impartial, efficient, simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent manner.
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