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Former IEBC commissioners Boya Molu (left), Prof Abdi Yakub Guliye(centre) and former Chair Wafula Chebukati during the launch of the Post elections evaluation report at Safari park hotel on January 16, 2023.

 

This is after former vice chair Juliana Cherera alongside former commissioners Justus Nyang’aya and Francis Wanderi resigned after they were suspended from office by President Ruto last year.

Ms Cherera, Mr Nyang’aya, Mr Wandera and Ms Masit were on December 2, 2022 suspended and a tribunal was formed to probe their conduct after they disputed the presidential election results declared by Mr Chebukati in August 2022. 

 

Nation Newsplex breaks down the process to be followed before a new commission can be formed.

First, the President is expected to form a  selection panel that will consist of two nominees- one man and one woman- from the Parliamentary Service Commission, one person nominated each by the Public Service Commission, the Political Parties Liaison Committee, the Law Society of Kenya and two persons- a man and a woman representing the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya.

The need to set up a new selection panel follows the signing into law the IEBC Amendment Bill 2022 by President Ruto on January 23. 

The new law states that a person is qualified to be a member of the selection panel if the person is a Kenyan citizen, meets the requirements of leadership and integrity as enshrined in Chapter Six of the constitution and holds a degree from a recognized university.

In its first sitting, the panel will select its chairperson and its vice chairperson after which they will have the task of inviting applications from Kenyans who meet the requirements to be members of the IEBC. 

The panel will then consider the applications, shortlist candidates and then conduct interviews in public.

After the process is complete, the panel forwards two names for the chairperson and nine names for the commissioners slots to the President after which the President is then expected within seven days to send to Parliament the names of the Chairperson and six commissioners for approval.

If Parliament approves, the President then appoints the seven member commission through an official Gazette notice. By Jackline Macharia, NMG

Ahead of the visit of Pope Francis, the Vatican 'Technical Advanced Team' have been welcomed in Juba, South Sudan.

They are there to assess the preparation for the Papal visit which will take place from February 3 to 5.

Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Metropolitan Archbishop of Juba on Tuesday (Jan.24) said almost 90% of the work that is supposed to be done ahead of the visit have been completed. 

Bert van Megen, Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan explained the purpose of his visit.

"We are here with the advance team of the Vatican who comes to check on the ground how the preparation are going for the visit of the Holy Father who will be coming here on an Ecumenical pilgrimage with the Archbishop to Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. So, the visit is going to take place very soon in fact in 10 days’ time the Holy Father will be landing here in Juba together with Archbishop to Canterbury and the Moderator."

Pope Francis is set to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan after having previously earlier forced to postpone his visit in July 2022 due to health issues. 

He'd be spending two days in South Sudan before returning to the Vatican   By Rédaction Africanews

The US representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will travel to Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique in the course of the Week from 25th to 29th January.

The Ambassador seeks to affirm and strengthen partnerships with key current and former UN Security Council members.

This follows on the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, and her visit will advance priorities, including addressing regional security, reinforcing commitments to democracy and human rights, strengthening food security, supporting African resilience and recovery, and mitigating the effects of climate change.

In a press statement Monday  from United States Mission to the United Nations, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy, in Kenya, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will receive briefings from the UN country team on humanitarian programs, including the regional drought response and assistance to refugees.

Amb. Greenfield will also meet with refugees pending resettlement in the United States and highlight the Administration’s newly-launched Welcome Corps program.

She will also meet with Kenya-based entrepreneurs at the forefront of the country’s transition to a green economy as well as also focus on the impact Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to have on global food security, which has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to be the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations as well as the Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations on January 20, 2021

She had earlier served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2013 to 2017. Capital News

Image: GCIS  - President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks at an event. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s initial plan to lead the delegates to the 53rd annual conference of the World Economic Forum (WEF), was interrupted by the country’s crippling energy crisis.

Although the president made a public announcement of his last-minute withdrawal from the post-COVID gathering at Davos in Switzerland in order to address the outcry by South Africans over excessive power cuts, SA’s team led by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana continued in their agenda to lure foreign investors into sustaining economic relations with the country and the African continent more broadly.

President Ramaphosa, who had formerly been accused of turning a blind eye to the Eskom power crisis when he decided to carry out discussions with US president Joe Biden last September, and another meeting with King Charles III later that November, has put a pause on his international visits to reprioritise a recovery plan against constraint power supply in South Africa (SA).

While devastated South Africans waited what implementation measures will come from the President’s urgent meeting with the Eskom board, several leaders of political parties and the National Energy Crisis Committee, the world also waited to hear from SA representatives at the WEF, who are tasked with the heavy mandate of demonstrating why SA should still be counted as a favourable investment destination, despite rolling blackouts which have threatened the future of both local and international companies doing business in the country.

Apart from the international scandal surrounding the Phala Phala farm robbery case, President Ramaphosa’s re-election rivalry with former president Jacob Zuma, and report warnings about SA getting grey-listed, other domestic challenges that are currently undermining SA’s efforts towards resolving the energy conundrum include: the resignation of Eskom’s Group CEO, Andre de Ruyter, the environmental implications of Eskom’s coal emissions, and the capture of the state-owned entities by corruption.

Without a stable leadership, the much-needed law enforcement to combat deeply embedded corruption practises that have become a norm in Eskom, cannot be executed to its fullest capacity. Furthermore, the Western corporate body in the WEF is aware of Eskom’s emissive contributions to climate change, and SA is aware of what an attractive source of power renewable energy can be on the international stage. Without sufficient capital to fund and monitor a renewable energy programme, SA may risk losing its credibility as an environmentally safe hub for business investors in the energy sector.

All this to say that while state visits to collaboration platforms such as the WEF are important to strengthen intercontinental partnership that promote foreign direct investment and trade, the South African delegation had a struggle to add value to future international deliberations on investment opportunities, if the internal issue of energy insecurity is not addressed.

Therefore, finding emergency solutions to reform the energy sector, and not just to reduce the effects of power outages, is a strategy that will positively benefit SA both at a national, as well as global level.  SABC News

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya spokesperson professor Makau Mutua has affirmed that he does not recognize President William Ruto as the country's president.

In a shared Twitter post, Mutua insisted that he never saw himself acknowledging Ruto as the Head of State. 

"As a matter of my freedom of conscience and thought, I can't accept, or recognize, William Samoei Ruto as President of Kenya. I can't and won't," Makau wrote. 

Mutua's remarks came barely hours after the coalition's supremo Raila Odinga vowed not to recognise Ruto citing that he was in office illegally. 

He also demanded that the Kenya Kwanza government resigns, arguing that it had neither the mandate of the people nor the ability to govern.

Additionally, the opposition leader and other leaders allied to the Azimio faction asked Kenyans to reject the Ruto-led administration.

While describing the policies as “unfortunate and unfair”, Raila said they must be resisted and urged his supporters to start the resistance at once.

He also noted that he did not agree with the electoral commission — which declared Ruto the winner of the August election — and the Supreme Court, which upheld the election. Raila said the two institutions had been hijacked by cartels.

His sentiments have raised political stakes, setting the stage for what could turn out to be a protracted game of wits between the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance — of which UDA is a member — and the Opposition. 

Raila spoke just hours after he returned to the country after a short tour of South Africa. From the airport, he went straight to the historic Kamukunji grounds in Nairobi, where he made an eight-point demand, including for the five-month-old administration to resign.

“We as Azimio reject the 2022 election results,” he said. “We cannot and will not recognise the Kenya Kwanza regime and we consider the Kenya Kwanza government illegitimate. We don’t recognise Mr William Ruto as President of Kenya and we equally don’t recognise any officials in the office with him.” 

By , People Daily 
 

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