The bipartisan talks that prioritised reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have seemingly collapsed but the IEBC selection panel is up and running.

In an exclusive interview with The Standard yesterday, the IEBC selection panel chairperson Nelson Makanda dismissed claims that their operations were suspended to give room for the bipartisan talks aimed at resolving political differences between President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga.

“The IEBC panel is still working and has not abandoned its duties. The panel is in office, properly constituted and working. As a matter of fact, we are sitting tomorrow afternoon at 2.30 pm. There is nothing to hide,” he said. 

Dr Makanda said the selection panel took a break on their own volition when political temperatures heightened in the country and denied allegations that they got orders from President Ruto to halt operations until a resolution is reached on by the bipartisan committee comprising of Azimio and Kenya kwanza legislators. 

The bipartisan committee’s top agenda was finding a resolution on the mode of selection of the new IEBC commissioners.

However, the IEBC selection panel said they are working but with the consideration of the political atmosphere in mind.

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“This panel has not adjourned and no directives from any arm of the government was given to adjourn. The panel took note of the political environment and realized that one of their key agenda was the composition of the panel and we decided to allow a process that remains peaceful,” Makanda told The Standard.

“Since I took office I am yet to receive any sort of communication from the Executive or anyone,” he added. 

Before they went on a break the selection panel was to start shortlisting candidates to fill posts left vacant by the Wafula Chebukati-led commission.

“As at the 5pm deadline, the preliminary perusal of physical and electronic records indicates a total of nine online applications and 16 hard copy applications for Chairperson of the IEBC had been received,” Makanda told the press at KICC in Nairobi.

He further noted that the preliminary examination of their records had indicated that 900 applicants, out of which 385 had submitted hard copy applications while 515 had applied online for the positions of six commissioners of IEBC.

The selection panel was to embark on scrutinising the applicants physical and electronic submissions before they gazette the successful candidates to be interviewed.

Makanda revealed that they have already gone through the applications.

“The panel has taken judicial duty to thoroughly go through the names and qualifications so that we ensure that we are fair to each one of them. We know that we have a deadline so we are still working and on course to complete that task,” he told The Standard.

He further said that the selection panel has been meeting to discuss IEBC matters and that all their communications are on record.

“The panel has been meeting openly and there is nothing to hide. If the panel is meeting once in while all our proceedings are recorded. There are in Hansard,” he said.

And although they are yet to shortlist the applicants, Makanda said they are still on track and will adhere to constitutional timelines.

“No one is to blame for the delay, we are still on the timeline, we need to be careful when choosing those who will be mandate to take control of the IEBC. Remember the product of this panel has a great responsibility,” he said

Even though the selection panel chair insists that he has never received any instructions from political players, on Tuesday, the Bipartisan Committee co-chair George Murugara said Azimio had demanded that the committee writes to the team to stop them from undertaking their roles.

“But since there is no law backing us to instruct an independent institution as Kenya kwanza we were against the idea so we agreed to request the selection panel on its own volition and most likely because they are human beings and care for the nation, they could opt to suspend and that was our agreement,” he said. He however said Azimio went behind his back and redrafted the letter.

But Bipartisan Committee co-chair Otiende Amollo (Azimio) yesterday said they had already agreed that in the interim they would stop the selection process but Kenya Kwanza team later changed their minds arguing that the selection panel is an independent institution and cannot be directed.

“His argument is totally flawed because the bipartisan talks are founded on the sovereignty  of the people. The IEBC or the selection panel cannot be independent in any event if we cannot instruct them in the interim to stop the process and to preserve the servers. How will we then eventually instruct them on our final decisions as a committee?” Amollo posed.

Makanda clarified that he was not in receipt of any letter from either Kenya Kwanza or Azimio.

Kenya Kwanza gave Azimio an ultimatum to resume talks on Tuesday next week failure to which the selection panel will proceed with reconstitution of IEBC.

But Amollo said: “These talks were predicated on a political agreement between   Ruto and Raila. That was the foundation of the talks. It’s not about formalities. The talks have been dissolved. Our party leader announced it. What other formalities do they need?” By Grace Ng'ang'a, The Standard

On June 16, Tricia Sinclair completed the 250km five-day running feat called Ultra X Tanzania, which saw her traverse 3,700m up Mount Kilimanjaro. 

“I kind of went into it actually not even knowing if I would physically be able to finish the whole thing,” the 37-year-old from Twickenham, London, told the PA news agency.

“Obviously I’d done the training and was hoping for the best, but I’ve never run that far before.”

Despite never running “anything more than a marathon”, the 37-year-old was the 10th overall female – with a time of 37.01 hours – which was based on overall time taken to complete the feat.

Ms Sinclair served in the army for 14 years between 2008 and 2022, an experience she said she will “always be grateful for”.

She now works as the director of fitness for charity REORG, which helps rehabilitate veterans, military and emergency services personnel through functional fitness and jiu-jitsu. 

Through the challenge, she hoped to raise £30,000 to allow 100 veterans and military and emergency services personnel to go through the charity’s 60 fitness programme – which uses cross-fit to improve health and wellbeing.

When previously speaking to PA, she said: “The idea of leaving the service is massive, it’s so daunting, it’s petrifying, because the idea of transferable skills and surviving in the civilian world is massive. 

“My transition has been made so much easier because first of all, REORG offered me a job as a full-time member of staff, which has been amazing because it is surrounded around fitness, which I am massively passionate about, and it’s supporting people that I’ve been working with for the past 14 years.”

Ms Sinclair said the sense of community on the ultra-marathon was her favourite aspect.

“Day two came and there was a lot more elevation and that was when I really started to see the support of the other runners,” she said. 

“There was so much incline, which meant that you had to walk quite a bit of it.

“I had a bit of a bad right knee and I didn’t take any poles with me as I didn’t really know the benefit of using them and one of the girls that I was running with gave me one of her poles and we pretty much ran the whole of day two together.”

The kindness of those taking part in the ultra-marathon was also demonstrated when a group of South African runners sang “happy birthday” to Ms Sinclair on her special day – which fell on the first day of the event.

“That was really cute. Then, I think somebody told the race organisers and they mentioned it in the evening and sang me ‘happy birthday’ as well, which was really sweet,” she said.

Ms Sinclair’s friends and family also sent her cards so she would have something to open while in Tanzania.

Her dad – Michael George Sinclair, 60 – was also there to greet her at the finish line.

“A whole wave of emotions came over me, I couldn’t believe what I’d just done – it was definitely one of the best experiences of my whole entire life,” she said.

“Dad was so proud and said this has inspired him to to sign up for a half marathon and one of the main reasons I wanted to do this was to inspire people to push themselves out of their comfort zone.”

Ms Sinclair documented the ultra-marathon using a GoPro and particularly wanted to “capture the bits where I’m absolutely hanging out”.

“It’s funny because on the first day, I was using the GoPro loads and was running with it a lot because I had bags of energy,” she said.

“By day three, even just getting that GoPro out of my bag was such a hindrance – but I still caught a lot.

“The last day especially was the hardest for me, so I pretty much had the GoPro in my hand the whole day.”

She described the ascent up Mount Kilimanjaro on day three as “savage”.

“I spent about five-and-a-half hours just stomping uphill and I was pretty much alone for most of that day,” she said.

“Then there was a lot of downhill, so I think that day took me seven-and-a-half hours to complete.”

However, she added: “The scenery, the locals were absolutely amazing – they were cheering us on every single day.”

Day four consisted of Ms Sinclair running in the pitch black, with a headtorch on for several hours, but also being supported by a group of fellow female runners who came up with a game plan to get them through it.

With Ms Sinclair’s fundraising target yet to be met and her page still live, she said she has plans to take on another challenge.

“I’ve actually been invited to go to the Ultra X championships in June of next year, so I might think of doing that,” she said.

“But I also like the idea of potentially doing an Ironman as well because I like the fact that its got three disciplines in it.”

Ms Sinclair’s fundraising page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/patricia-sinclair-1683631836730  By 

The government is likely to take the case to the UK Supreme Court, further putting on hold any deportation plans. The Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled that the UK government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful as the African nation could not be considered a safe third country.

The National Assembly Health Committee is next week, expected to launch a public inquiry into fraud that has been reported at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). 

There has been public outrage over fraudulent activities at the national health insurer after claims rogue NHIF bosses have been colluding with some private hospitals to defraud Kenyans.

The chairman of the committee Robert Pukose raised concerns that rogue officials at NHIF, in collaboration with hospitals, defrauded Kenyans.

Pukose said the committee will convene next week to establish the terms of reference for the inquiry, and invite all relevant stakeholders to present their views on fraud reported at the national insurer. 

"We, as a committee, cannot turn a blind eye to the misappropriation of public resources within NHIF. The only path to uncover the truth behind the NHIF crisis is through a public inquiry," said Pukose. 

Speaking on Wednesday during an interactive meeting with top NHIF management, Pukose said the rogue employees defraud Kenyans through unsubstantiated and fictional claims.

“The only way to salvage the deteriorating state of the fund is to launch a comprehensive investigation that may result in significant personnel changes at the NHIF,” added the chair.

The committee’s move is taken a week after Health CS Susan Nakhumicha ordered investigations into the scandal. 

Ms Nakhumicha directed the NHIF board, KMPDC and Pharmaceutical Board of Kenya, and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to carry out a thorough investigation following allegations that employees of NHIF coax hospitals to steal money from innocent Kenyans.

Further, the committee will explore the preferential treatment given to privately owned healthcare facilities at the expense of public hospitals.

Also in attendance at the meeting was Prof Guyo Wago Jaldesa who said though public hospitals serve more patients as compared to private hospitals, it remains unclear why NHIF remit more money to private hospitals.

“It is inconceivable that a private hospital could perform more surgeries than renowned institutions such as Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), let alone both combined. Clearly, these claims are baseless,” questioned Jaldesa. 

The sentiments on overpayment to public hospitals were echoed by Nyeri Town MP Dancun Mathenge noted that a public inquiry is the only way to expose the corruption at NHIF. 

Mathenge said there are claims that a number of private hospitals submit exorbitant claims to NHIF for surgeries, surpassing the number performed at KNH and MTRH

“It is disheartening that 60 per cent of NHIF payments go to private health facilities, especially considering that the privileged hospitals are those with close connections to NHIF's top brass. Meanwhile, legitimate service providers struggle to operate due to unpaid dues," said Mathenge.

Appearing before the National Health Committee probing NHIF fraud last week, Health CS Susan Nakhumicha also raised an issue with the overpayment of NHIF remittance fees to private hospitals and promised to have the issue addressed.

For example, eight hospitals in Nairobi and Meru counties which were accused of stealing from Kenyans are reported to have allegedly been paid at least Sh1.54 billion for 30,111 claims made between July 2022 and June 2023. 

Another report of 2021 by the Economic and Social Rights Centre-Hakijamii, Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law (CHRGJ) noted that though NHIF is a public insurer, it favours the private sector for which it may not have been established to benefit.

For example, according to the report, out of Sh14 billion NHIF spends annually on claims in Nairobi, Sh11 billion goes to private hospitals.

Mogotio MP Reuben Kiborek also supported the proposal for a public inquiry, saying fraudulent activities at the NHIF have persisted over time, and have unfortunately not been acted upon, an issue that has made Kenyans lose trust in the public insurer.

“If we aim to establish Universal Health Insurance (UHC), we must address the deep-rooted corruption at NHIF, even if it entails removing the entire NHIF board of management and directors," said Kiborek.  By Mercy Kahenda, The Standard