President William Ruto pledged to empower the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) during his inaugural speech after taking the oath of office on Tuesday, September 13.
Ruto promised to support the polls agency in deploying technology to help them cover all polls in the country.
He also lauded IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati for upholding the rule of law despite facing intimidation to overturn the will of the people reiterating that he is a national hero.
"Going forward we will support the IEBC in its institutional capacities so as to expand the deployment of technology to cover all elections from those of MCAs to those of the president," Ruto stated.
"I also believe there is tremendous opportunity to support electoral processes in our political parties as part of the broader democratic development," Ruto pledged.
He argued by empowering IEBC, political parties will also have the autonomy to perform their respective mandates as enshrined in the 2010 promulgated constitution.
Chebukati immediately responded to Ruto for recognising the commission's efforts.
"On behalf of IEBC and myself, I wish to thank President William Ruto for recognizing IEBC for having raised the bar of integrity and the standard of public service in Kenya. I feel proud to have made my contribution towards strengthening democracy in Kenya," Chebukati wrote.
Ruto also pledged to scale up the budgetary allocation to the newly formed Judiciary fund. He maintained that his government will reimburse Ksh300 billion annually to help uphold Judiciary independence.
"My administration will respect judicial decisions while we cement the place of Kenya as a country anchored on democracy and the rule of law," Ruto stated.
According to Kenya's 5th President, the Judiciary, which Chief Justice Martha Koome leads, has upheld its independence and set an example to other countries.
He further honoured his campaign pledge by committing to oversee the swearing-in of six judges who outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected.
The judges left out by Uhuru include judges Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga, Weldon Korir and Joel Ngugi.
"To further demonstrate my commitment to the independence of the judiciary, this afternoon, I will appoint the six judges already nominated for appointment to the court of appeal which was done three years ago
"Tomorrow. I shall preside over their swearing-in so that they can get on with the business of serving the people of Kenya," he stated.
