President Ruto gazettes appointment of new IEBC chair, commissioners

President William Ruto has officially gazetted the appointment of Erastus Edung Ethekon as the new Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Ethekon succeeds the late former chairperson Wafula Chebukati, whose term ended in January 2023.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 250 (2) as read with section 5(2) of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act and Paragraph 4 of the First Schedule to the Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Erastus Edung Ethekon to be the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for a period of six (6) years,” the head of state stated in the notice released on Tuesday evening.

In the same notice, the President also gazetted six additional commissioners recently vetted and approved by Parliament.

He appointed Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah as members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, also for a period of six years.

The IEBC has been without commissioners for almost two and a half years following the expiry of terms for former members of the commission, including the chairperson.

This long-awaited reconstitution now paves the way for the full operationalization of the IEBC ahead of a busy electoral period.

More to follow….