The Malindi court has halted the planned interviews after a petitioner challenged the transparency of shortlisting and candidates’ citizenship.
The High Court in Malindi has temporarily halted IEBC CEO interviews following a petition challenging the recruitment process. The commission had scheduled interviews for November 12 and 13.
On November 5, the court certified the petition as urgent and issued orders stopping the exercise. The restrictions will remain in place pending the hearing and determination of the petition.
A Malindi resident brought the case, questioning how the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission identified qualified applicants. He also alleged that the shortlist included foreign nationals, contrary to the law.
IEBC CEO interviews face citizenship challenge
The citizenship allegation follows an earlier explanation from IEBC about foreign applicants in the recruitment process. The commission acknowledged receiving their applications but said it eliminated them during the preliminary assessment.
IEBC said those applicants did not meet the Kenyan citizenship requirement. It also said officials checked national identification documents, citizenship status and academic qualifications before selecting the final shortlist.
The commission maintained that every candidate on the final list was a Kenyan citizen. Its position therefore differs from the petitioner’s allegation that foreign nationals remained among those shortlisted.
On October 28, IEBC published the names of nine shortlisted candidates, comprising seven men and two women. The commission arranged to communicate the interview venue individually to each candidate.
Separate petition questions recruitment outsourcing
Meanwhile, a separate challenge to the recruitment process failed to secure urgent certification at the Milimani Law Court. National Liberal Party leader Augustus Kyalo Muli filed that petition on November 4.
Muli challenged IEBC’s decision to outsource key recruitment stages to a private consultancy firm. He argued that the IEBC Act assigns appointment powers and responsibilities to the commission.
In his view, the commission could not transfer those responsibilities wholesale to a private entity. He also accused IEBC of failing to disclose its scoring matrix, evaluation criteria and contractual arrangements with the consultancy.
However, Justice Grace Aburili declined to certify Muli’s application as urgent. She noted that the recruitment process had been public for some time and applications had closed in August.
The judge also pointed out that IEBC had already longlisted and shortlisted candidates. She said Muli had known about the process and had not satisfied the court that his application warranted urgent consideration.
