There was a standoff on Thursday evening after some members of the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on Election laws sent away IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
The members became suspicious after the Chairman turned up for the public participation session on electoral laws without fellow Commissioners.
The MPs stated that the document the Chebukati showed up with was only signed by the Chairman creating doubt on whether the other commissioners had endorsed it.
It was at this point when the legislators asked him to leave and return with the other oficials of the electoral body at 7 pm.
[caption caption="IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati arrives at joint Parliamentary committee on election to submit his recommendations. "]
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Nairobi Senator Johnston Sakaja was having on of it questioning the procedure of allowing the chairman to speak alone yet it was the commission that had been invited.
“Can the chairman confirm that indeed he has a signed memorandum from the commission? We didn’t invite the chairman of the IEBC. We invited the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” he conveyed.
The IEBC Chairman was expected to lead the Commission to reject proposed electoral law amendments pushed by President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party.
The Commission was to present its memorandum of opposition to the Joint Select Committee holding public hearings on the contentious changes.
Among the changes in the amendments is drastically reducing the powers of the IEBC chairman when it comes to declaring the winner in a presidential election.
Read Also: IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati Rejects Jubilee's Plan
IEBC was expected to urge MPs and senators not to look for quick fixes but instead undertake a comprehensive review of electoral laws after the October 26 presidential election.
"The commission believes that instead of targeting the (IEBC) chair or any individual while amending the law, Jubilee should wait for the election to be done and a comprehensive review undertaken. In fact,we believe the chair's position should be made executive since commissioners are involved in operational issues," another commissioner stated.
Jubilee's push for electoral changes was motivated by fears of Chebukati resigning before declaring the winner of the poll.
Current laws state that only the commission chairman, a distinguished lawyer by profession, can declare the presidential results.
[caption caption="Former MPs making presentations before the Joint Select Committee on Election-Related laws"]
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The current law not provide for a situation where the chairman is absent, therefore, in the absence of Chebukati, none of the commissioners has legal authority to declare results.
To avoid such a scenerio, Jubilee legislatures have proposed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2017 that seeks to reduce the chairman's powers, while empowering the vice chairman.
Jubilee has also proposed an amendment to remove the requirement that the IEBC boss should hold a law degree and be qualified to sit in the Supreme Court.
