A political storm is brewing in Parliament as angry senators lash out over being sidelined from the vetting of proposed IEBC commissioners, setting the stage for another high-stakes showdown between Kenya’s two legislative Houses.
Tempers flared in the Senate this week after news broke that only the National Assembly would vet President William Ruto’s controversial IEBC nominees, including Erastus Ethekon as chair and six other commissioners. The Senate, feeling deliberately edged out, is accusing their counterparts of orchestrating a calculated move to strip them of their constitutional mandate.
“This is an issue of national importance. The reconstitution of IEBC cannot and should not be a single-house affair,” thundered Hillary Sigei, Chair of the Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee. “This exclusion is not only suspicious it’s unacceptable.”
The uproar has reignited deep-rooted turf wars over legislative supremacy, with senators demanding that both Houses jointly vet IEBC nominees just as they have done for other high-profile roles like the Inspector General of Police and the Central Bank Governor.
An Act of Sabotage?
Lawmakers argued bitterly on the Senate floor, calling the move a deliberate sabotage of the Senate’s authority.
“This is an ongoing pattern,” Sigei added. “Since 2012, there’s been an intentional effort to erase the word ‘Parliament’ and replace it with ‘National Assembly’ a move that was only supposed to be transitional. That manipulation must stop.”
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei echoed the fury, insisting that Article 88 of the Constitution never intended to exclude the Senate from IEBC formation.
A Legal Time Bomb
While the IEBC Act currently vests vetting powers in the National Assembly, senators argue that the provision was only meant to fill a gap before the Senate was formally established under the 2010 Constitution.
“This is one of the bills the National Assembly has kept gathering dust for far too long,” Sigei lamented. “We won’t retreat. Not this time.”
Flashpoint: May 27
The explosive debate comes just days before the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee is expected to begin vetting the nominees on May 27. Senators have now vowed to resist what they’re calling a constitutional overreach and possibly derail the entire process.
In a Parliament already rife with tension and political undercurrents, this fresh power struggle could have ripple effects far beyond the vetting room.
Kenya watches.
