The National Assembly has approved the nomination of Erastus Edung Ethekon as the new chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), along with six other individuals nominated to serve as commissioners.
The announcement comes just days after National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula directed the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) to resume the vetting of the IEBC nominees, a process that had previously been halted by a court order.
Ethekon was nominated by President William Ruto on May 8 to succeed former IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati, who died in February this year. At the same time, the president also nominated six IEBC Commissioners from various regions across the country. Among them is Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu, who hails from Nyandarua. The others are Moses Alutalala Mukhwana from Kakamega, Mary Karen Sorobit from Uasin Gishu, Hassan Noor Hassan from Mandera, Francis Odhiambo Aduol from Kisumu, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah from Lamu.
The nominated chairperson and the six commissioners now await their official swearing-in. The High Court had earlier issued conservatory orders stopping the gazettement of the IEBC nominees and their swearing-in. However, the court later gave a green light to Parliament to vet them.
