Supreme Court Judge Lenaola criticises Gov't over laxity in appointing IEBC

Supreme Court Justice Isaac Lenaola has blasted the Executive and Parliament for laxity in reconstituting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and instead prioritizing political legislation at the expense of laws that affect the citizens directly.

Speaking after attending the regional conference on the use of Artificial Intelligence, digital, and social media in elections in Kenya, Lenaola questioned the timing of the failure of the Judiciary e-filing system during the hearing of the impeachment case against the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and the readiness of the system to handle important matters.

The Supreme Court judge took the government head-on for its failures thus far, raising questions on the country's current state without IEBC commissioners, almost two years since the occupants left office.

"I do not understand why, for example, we are busy passing legislation very quickly on other subjects that are politically important, but we do not look at what is extremely important for this country - the electoral commission. How can a country like ours stand on its feet if it does not have an electoral commission?" Lenaola posed.

"Those of you who followed the Riggy G saga will remember that at some point the (Judiciary) online filing system went down. I want you to carry this question into 2027. Why did that online platform collapse? Why did the firewalls that we created before 2022 suddenly become vulnerable? Imagine what will happen in 2027. I will say no more."

The Judiciary experienced a system outage that affected three key platforms used in legal processes when the case was ongoing, affecting the e-filing system, the case tracking system, and the cause list system.

The Judge rallied Kenyans to stand up and force the reconstitution of the poll body to allow them to enjoy their democratic rights.

"I am one of those judges who is not limited… I speak my mind… si Samburu ni hapa tu… why don’t we use social media to impact legislation? For instance, why don’t we have a hashtag, #AppointIEBCNow, and spread it?" Lenaola posed.

The sentiments by the Judge come as the country continues to operate without IEBC commissioners, less than three years to the next polls.

The election, which is a continuous process, is in limbo, with by-elections in 11 electoral units and the delimitation of boundaries lagging behind.