The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is restructuring its operations in a bid to deliver credible elections and restore the confidence of Kenyans, Commissioner Dr. Alutalala Mukhwana has said.
Dr. Mukhwana told Spice FM that the new team has spent its first 50 days laying a fresh foundation for operations.
“We made it purposeful that we need to reorganize the structure of the commission in a way that will help us carry out our duties effectively. In 50 days, we have held close to 20 stakeholder engagements. That shows how seriously we take voter communication,” he said.
The commission recently elected 32-year-old Fahima Arafat Abdallah as its vice chairperson, the youngest member of the team.
She will also oversee procurement, a docket that has historically drawn criticism.
“Her election is a pointer to where the commission is headed, given that 70 percent of Kenyans are youth,” Dr. Mukhwana noted.
Other commissioners have been assigned roles aligned to their expertise: Anne Deritu heads electoral operations, Mary Karen Sorobid oversees legal compliance, Hassan Nur Hassan manages human resources, while Dr. Mukhwana himself is in charge of voter education, partnerships, and communication.
IEBC, however, admitted that the greatest challenge remains public mistrust of the electoral body. He traced the deficit to Kenya’s troubled electoral history, citing the controversial mlolongo (queue-voting) system of the 1980s, the disputed 2007 election, and the annulled 2017 presidential results.
Dr. Mukhwana also criticized Kenya’s winner-takes-all electoral model, which requires a presidential candidate to secure “50 percent plus one” of the vote, saying it fuels ethnic-based political alliances and leaves nearly half of the country feeling excluded.
He suggested proportional representation as an alternative worth considering.
Dismissing claims of electoral rigging, the commissioner insisted results are tallied and declared at polling stations in the presence of party agents and media before being transmitted
