President William Ruto has issued a fresh gazette notice confirming the appointment of Erastus Endung Ethekon as the new Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), along with six new commissioners, following a recent legal challenge that temporarily blocked the appointments.
In a gazette notice dated Thursday, July 10, President Ruto formally appointed Ethekon to lead the electoral agency for a single, non-renewable term of six years. The appointment was made in accordance with Article 250(2) of the Constitution, as well as Section 5(2) of the IEBC Act.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 250(2) as read with Section 5(2) of the IEBC Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Erastus Endung Ethekon to be the Chairperson of the IEBC for a non-renewable term of six years,” the notice stated.
Ethekon will serve alongside six newly appointed commissioners: Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Mukhwana, Mary Sorobit, Hassan Noor, Francis Odhiambo, and Fahima Abdallah. Their appointments were also re-gazetted to ensure compliance with a court ruling issued earlier the same day.
The re-gazettement comes just hours after a three-judge bench at the High Court ruled that the President’s initial gazette notice, which had formalized the appointments, was unlawful.
The judges—Roselyne Aburili, John Chigiti, and Bahati Mwamuye—found that the original gazettement had violated court orders that were already in place.
According to the court, the government had been barred from publishing the appointments through conservatory orders issued on May 29. These orders were meant to pause the appointments until a petition challenging the recruitment process was fully heard and decided.
“The gazette notices issued by the President to formalize the appointments were unlawful, as they were published in violation of a valid and existing conservatory order,” the ruling stated.
The court then instructed the President to issue a new, lawful gazette notice that complies with the judgment—prompting the latest re-gazettement.
However, despite nullifying the original notice, the High Court dismissed the petition that had sought to invalidate the appointments altogether. The judges ruled that the petitioners had failed to provide sufficient legal grounds to overturn the selection of Ethekon and the other commissioners.
Petitioners had raised several concerns, including claims of lack of regional and gender diversity, political bias in the selection process, and the alleged exclusion of persons living with disabilities from the appointments. But the court found these arguments weak and not compelling enough to revoke the appointments.
“The court found the petition lacked merit and did not meet the required legal threshold to overturn the appointments,” the judgment read.
With the fresh gazette notice now in place, the IEBC appointments stand officially recognized. The commission, which plays a vital role in managing Kenya’s elections and electoral boundaries, now has a full leadership team in place—bringing to an end a legal standoff that had threatened to delay its operations.
The re-appointment is seen as a key step toward rebuilding and reactivating the commission, which has been operating with a leadership vacuum since the 2022 general elections.
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