CJ Koome assigns petition challenging IEBC nominations to Aburili-led bench » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 31 — Chief Justice Martha Koome has constituted a three-judge bench to hear a petition challenging the nomination of commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), amid escalating tensions between the Judiciary and the Legislature over the recruitment process.

Justice Roselyne Aburili will preside over the bench, alongside Justice Chigiti Mugwimi and Justice Andrew Mwamuye.

In a directive issued on Friday, CJ Koome ordered a day-to-day hearing siting the constitutional weight and urgency of the dispute even as the National Assembly vowed to proceed with the approval process.

The case, filed by activists Boniface Mwangi and Kelvin Roy through senior counsels Paul Muite and Douglas Otieno, questions the legality and constitutionality of the ongoing IEBC selection process.

It seeks to halt the appointments pending a judicial review of the process used to nominate the commissioners.

High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi had reffered the matter to the Chief Justice after issuing orders stopping the gazettement of President William Ruto’s nominees to the commission.

Wetangula dismisses court challenge

Justice Mugambi cited the constitutional issues raised by the petition.

Despite the court order, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula directed the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) to proceed with vetting of the nominees, asserting that Parliament’s autonomy.

“Parliament is a constitutionally established institution, clothed with the authority to discharge its constitutional functions,” Wetangula said, warning against what he termed as “institutional overreach” by the Judiciary.

The clash signals a deepening standoff between the two arms of government, each asserting jurisdiction over the highly contested IEBC appointments.

Wetangula has hinted at issuing a formal communication to guide parliamentary responses to perceived encroachments by the Judiciary and has invited CJ Koome for a dialogue forum to address inter-institutional friction.

President Ruto nominated Erastus Ethekon Edung as IEBC Chairperson, and Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Arafat Abdallah as commissioners .