Attorney General(AG) Dorcas Oduor has requested that the Supreme Court dismiss an advisory case that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) brought about boundary delineation.
The AG feels it is too late to oppose the lawsuit and ask the nation’s highest court to rule on whether the commission can move on with delineating boundaries without the six commissioners and a chair.
At the highest court, Oduor is being represented by Principal State Counsel Odiwour Kaumba. He stated in his response, which The Standard was able to view, that there is no indication that the court needs to step in right away.
She claims that the recommendation is flawed because, in the absence of a quorum, the secretariat cannot decide whether to file a lawsuit or carry out important duties intended for the commission.
The AG stated that Parliament is aware of the time lapse and has created a statute to address it, even as he urged the Supreme Court to refrain from becoming involved.
She claims that the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2024 has been processed by the National Assembly and is now in the Senate.
The AG added that the delimitation issue is already the subject of a case in the Kilifi High Court.
Her stance is different from that of her predecessor, Justin Muturi, who, after a crisis caused by the retirement and dismissal of the Wafula Chebukati team, advised IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan to seek counsel from the nation’s highest court.
The terms of Abdi Guliye, Boya Molu, and Chebukati ended in January 2023. The results of the 2022 presidential election were rejected by four other commissioners, vice chairperson Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang’aya, and Irene Masit, who were removed from office.
In a letter dated March 20, 2024, the IEBC asked Muturi to provide his thoughts on whether the secretariat could carry out the commission’s responsibilities, such as drawing boundaries, without the commissioners present.
The then AG was also asked by the IEBC to clarify if the deadlines specified in the law were final. Otherwise, they might be wriggled or extended while accounting for the period of time it was commissioner-free.
On April 25, 2024, Muturi, who is currently Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, said that there were legal repercussions and difficulties if delimitation was not completed within the allotted period.
He pointed out that the secretariat lacked the authority to carry out the commission’s duties and urged Marjan to request an advise from the highest court. According to Muturi, the panel was unable to prolong the period.
According to Marjan, the commission had no control over the delay. He claimed that the advise will break the impasse.
