The Independence, Electoral, and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced plans to challenge the recent judgment that stopped it from conducting the BBI bill referendum.
This is after the five bench judges on Thursday, May 13, said the commission lacked quorum as stipulated in the law for it to conduct a referendum.
The bench led by Justice Joel Ngugi said the commission should have at least five commissioners to make quorum.
The jury further issued a permanent injunction restraining Chebukati’s commission from conducting the referendum as well as verifying the signatures.
However, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati has said that his commission will file an appeal on the judgement.
“As a commission we have engaged our lawyers and discussions are ongoing,
“In the course of this week we shall be lodging an appeal in the court of appeal,” Chebukati said.
Chebukati, who was speaking in Juja on Monday, May 17, said that in 2018, the High Court presided by Justice Okwany determined that article 250 of the Constitution is what applies to the commission.
According to Okwany, the commission should have a minimum of three commissioners and a maximum of nine.
“It applies to all commissions and independent commissions and state clearly that we should have a minimum of three commissioners and a maximum of nine,” he said.
IEBC currently has three commissioners Abdi Yakub Guliye, Boya Molu and Wafula Chebukati.
In April 2018, Connie Nkatha, Paul Kurgat and Margaret Mwachanya resigned from the commission saying it had become difficult to work with IEBC boss Wafula Chebukati.
Their resignation happened barely months after Roselyne Akombe had left the commission before the rerun in October 2017.
On April 14 2021, president Uhuru Kenyatta in a gazette notice declared the four vacancies.
For almost two years, the commission has been operating with only three commissioners.
