Race for IEBC jobs narrows as selection panel trims applicant list to 1,356

The Selection Panel overseeing the recruitment of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson and commissioners has narrowed the pool of applicants to 1,356 after eliminating duplicate and stray applications.

The panel’s Chairperson, Dr. Nelson Makanda revealed that out of the 1,356 applicants, 37 are for the position of Chairperson, while 1,319 have applied for the position of Member of the IEBC.

This comes after an initial tally of 1,848 applications was revised following a review process that identified duplicate, unreferenced, and stray submissions.

“To account for the number released on 16th of February 2025, a total of 211 applications were duplicates either in soft or hard copy, 91 were un-referenced, 14 were stray applications and 176 were email replies by applicants to the Panel’s Email auto response acknowledgement as indicated below,” Dr. Makanda stated.

The panel is now set to publish the longlist of applicants on Thursday, March 6, in two national newspapers, the Kenya Gazette, and the Parliamentary website.

After that, the panel will proceed with shortlisting before announcing the names of candidates advancing to the interview stage.

In terms of gender breakdown, men dominate both categories, with 31 men (83.78pc) applying for the position of Chairperson compared to six women (16.22pc).

Meanwhile, 1,078 men (80.87pc) have applied for IEBC member positions against 237 women (17.77pc).

Dr. Makanda assured the public of a fair and transparent process as the panel races against time to complete its work within the 90-day deadline set out in the First Schedule of the IEBC Act.

“The Panel would also like to reiterate that in selecting the nominees for the Chairperson and Members of IEBC, it is committed to conducting a fair and transparent process. The public and applicants should be assured of highest standards of integrity, impartiality and accountability in every aspect of the Panel’s work,” he stated.