The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) Monday caused a row demanding forceful removal of commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Following the chaotic scenes at the IEBC offices where riot police teargassed Opposition leaders amid protest against the electoral body, Kenyans.co.ke has delved into the constitutional process for ejecting commissioners.
Being an independent office created under the Constitution, a person(s) who wishes to remove a commissioner from office should present a petition to the National Assembly outlining grounds supporting the motive.
According to provisions of the Constitution, the National Assembly should then consider the petition and if satisfied with the reasons cited, the application is forwarded to the President.
The President should then be at liberty to suspend the Commissioners pending investigations into any alleged misconduct, after which he should appoint a four-member tribunal chaired by a person who has served as a judge in a senior court to probe the claims.
The tribunal is required to fully investigate the matter and submit recommendations to the President, who then acts in accordance with the recommendations within 30 days.
In case such a process goes through, taxpayers will have to part with Sh436.7 Million as salaries, allowances and gratuity to the nine officers.
The officers will be paid Sh210 Million, based on their current salaries, while the incoming commissioners if remunerated at the same rate, will earn a maximum pay of Sh210 Million. Additionally, the commissioners are entitled to gratuity, calculated at 31 per cent of their yearly salary for the years served.
This means that the nine, each earning Sh1.2 Million per month, will get Sh372,000 for the five years served, translating to Sh1.86 Million per person and Sh16.7 Million for the team.
Read Also: What It Will Cost Kenyans to Send IEBC Home
On Monday, the Opposition leaders and their supporters were teargassed outside IEBC offices when they tried to bring down a gate in order to gain access.
Read Also: VIDEO: Raila Team Teargassed Heavily
However, the Commissioners stood their ground saying that they would not be intimidated to leave office. The same has been reiterated by Jubilee leaders who have insisted that CORD should follow the laid down constitutional process to push their agenda.
