Lobby group demands fresh IEBC interviews, accuses panel of shortlisting Ruto loyalists

Lobby group Operation Linda Jamii is demanding immediate nullification of the current shortlist of candidates for the positions of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson and commissioners.

In a fervent statement on Thursday, the group accused the Nelson Makanda-led IEBC Selection Panel of bias and political favouritism, claiming the panel has "deliberately shortlisted individuals with clear political affiliations" and compromised the credibility of the entire selection process.

The organisation singled out Mr. Charles Nyachae and Mrs. Joy Mdivo, saying they are politically aligned individuals who should not have been considered for positions meant to be independent.

The group also raised concerns about Nyachae’s alleged financial issues, including being listed on the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), ongoing family financial disputes, and multiple child-support cases in court.

"Mr. Nyachae is the sitting chairperson of the Council of the Kenya School of Government, a government institution. He is a recycled bureaucrat and a perennial government appointee whose loyalty lies with the current political establishment, not the people of Kenya," stated the group’s founder Prof. Fred Ogola.

"Nyachae is also a perennial government appointee and a recycled bureaucrat whom we believe will serve the current political establishment called the broad-based government, and not the people of Kenya."

The group added: "Further, we have put evidence in court demonstrating that Mr. Charles Nyachae is listed in the CRB. How then would you entrust someone who despite coming from a wealthy family of a former minister, finds himself on CRB, family financial feuds which are in court and extramarital affairs that have been sued for about four child-support."

Equally contentious is the shortlisting of Mrs. Joy Mdivo, who the group says is currently serving as the chair of the Board of Directors at Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC), a state-controlled entity and also holds the position of Chairperson of the Electoral Disputes Resolutions Committee of UDA, which they term as 'a blatant conflict of interest'.

Operation Linda Jamii argues that allowing state officers and party insiders into the IEBC undermines the electoral body’s integrity and risks eroding public trust ahead of the 2027 General Election.

“Election rigging does not start on voting day. It begins with the unlawful capture of the IEBC,” the statement warned, asserting that the Ruto administration is laying the groundwork to manipulate the upcoming elections.

The group is now demanding the immediate nullification of the current IEBC shortlist, a fresh, transparent, and lawful selection process, an investigation into the panel’s conduct for potential political interference and an end to executive influence in the IEBC selection process.

They are also pushing for the inclusion of youth and persons with disabilities (PWDS) in the next selection process.

“If the 2027 election turns out to be flawed, they will be held responsible. If Kenyans lose faith in the process, your role will be recorded in history. And if the country plunges into crisis, the blood will be on your hands,” the group declared.

Justice Grace Nzioka, who first heard the case, recused herself, citing a conflict of interest as her supervisee, Justice Lorot, was also an applicant for the IEBC chair role.

The case was transferred to the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, where Justice Chacha Mwita declined to certify the matter as urgent and deferred it to July 28 — a date the group says will fall after the expected swearing-in of the new IEBC chairperson.

"This raises serious questions. What is so different between the High Court in Naivasha and Nairobi? How much interest is at play that the judiciary appears unwilling to act independently?" Ogola stated.

The lobby group thus urged Kenyans, civil society, and religious leaders to resist what they termed a "blatant attempt to subvert democracy," emphasising that ‘Kenya belongs to the people, not to one man.’