President William Ruto has nominated Erastus Edung Ethekon from Turkana County as the chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Additionally, the President has nominated six other individuals to serve as members of the commission and submitted their names to Parliament for vetting.
"In accordance with our supreme law, the nominations have been transmitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval by Parliament, in accordance with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act as well as the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act (Chapter 7F, Laws of Kenya),'' the statement from the Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei read in part.
The six members are: Ann Njeri Nderitu (Registrar of Political Parties), Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah.
The nominations followed the recommendations of the Selection Panel on the recruitment of nominees for the positions of chairperson and members of the IEBC, as transmitted on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
The Selection Panel, chaired by Nelson Makanda, had recommended two candidates for the position of chairperson and nine others for consideration to fill six commissioner slots, before President Ruto settled on seven nominees.
Ruto has urged the National Assembly to prioritise the consideration of the nominees, even as stakeholders had expressed concerns over the delay in constituting the commission.
“In recognition of the indispensable role of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as one of the cornerstone institutions of our democracy and a custodian of electoral management, His Excellency the President has urged the National Assembly to prioritize the consideration of these nominations.”
Erastus Edung Ethekon, the chairperson nominee, holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Oil, Gas & Energy Law from the University of Derby in the United Kingdom, obtained in 2016. He also earned a Master of Science (MSc) in Project Management from the University of Liverpool in 2013.
In 2012, he completed a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Peace, Conflict & Development Studies at Universidad Jaume I in Valencia, Spain. He is a recipient of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Chevening Fellowship and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in the Implementation of International Human Rights Treaties from the University of Nottingham, awarded in 2007.
His legal foundation includes a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law in 2003 and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of Nairobi, which he obtained in 2001.
Until his nomination, Edung served as County Attorney in the Office of the County Attorney in the County Government of Turkana from 2018 to 2024. He also worked as a Consultant Partner at Northern Consulting Solution and E. Ethekon & Co. Advocates, a position he held from 2004 to the time of his nomination.
A total of 11 candidates were interviewed for the position of chairperson, among them former Judiciary Chief Registrar Anne Amadi and ex-Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Chairperson Charles Nyachae.
Other contenders included legal and governance experts such as Joy Mdivo, Jacob Ngwele Muvengei, Erastus Edung Ethekon (the nominee), Francis Kakai Kissinger, Lilian Wanjiku Manegene, and Saul Simiyu Wasilwa.
Parliament now has 21 days to vet the nominees after receiving their names from the President, in accordance with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act, 2011.
