Kibaki Appoints New Electoral Commissioners: Is He Desperate To Win Elections At All Costs?

Starting this morning, we should be hearing lots of protests from members of parliament and politicians about the move last night by President Kibaki where he appointed several new commissioners to the Electoral commission of Kenya without making any consultations with the other political parties.

Although the president is empowered by the current constitution to do this, it is a clear case of a player appointing the referee in a game, which they hope to participate in themselves.

The general consensus amongst political parties across the board is that the current chairman and deputy chair of the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Mr Samuel Kivuitu and Mr Gabriel Mukele should have their terms extended, so that they can oversee the forthcoming elections. President Kibaki is unlikely to yield to this request although it makes plenty of sense. It is obvious that the coming elections will be the most complex and hotly contested in the history of Kenya and the vast experience of Kivuitu will come in very handy.

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But either there is something personal that happened between chairman Kivuitu and President Kibaki in the past or he does not trust him for some other reason, but it is clear that the president is very nervous about having him at the helm of the electoral commission in the coming elections. Whether opposition parties are aware of this or not, it is one of the main reasons why the Kibaki camp is so reluctant to come to the negotiating table with other political parties. Knowing in advance that there is a key issue that they will not be able to compromise on, it is more likely that the President will go on to appoint a new chairperson of his choice to the commission and the list to watch is that of yesterday's appointees. Once again the influence of President Moi will be felt here and there is a very high likelihood that the next chairman will be a trusted Moi croonie. Could this have been what the two were discussing recently at State House?