NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 16 – Nairobi Catholic Archbishop John Cardinal Njue has called for appointment of people of integrity to the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC).
Cardinal Njue said on Monday that such appointments would ensure that Kenyans get good service.
“We would like to have people in any commission who are of integrity, people who have the know how and people who have the good of this country at heart,” Cardinal Njue said.
He emphasised the need for integration of ideas of both the young and the old so as to get maximum benefits.
“It is not the question of the young or old, it is the question of efficiency. Is this young man able to do the job maybe even better than that elderly one?” he posed.
“Then let him take the responsibility. If the older man is able to take it, and then let him do it,” he said.
Among the people contending for the chairmanship of the new electoral body include former National Assembly Speaker Francis Ole Kaparo.
Mr Kaparo who was a no-nonsense Speaker once described MPs as egocentric but lost the post to Kenneth Marende during last year’s polls.
The former Laikipia East MP has served as an advocate for 31 years and is also a former Industry Minister.
Former Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chairman Maina Kiai, who is also eying the top post, had clashed with key figures in government during his tenure.
Other contenders include a chief magistrate and former director of public prosecutions Pamela Kidullah and Nathaniel Tum, the embattled former managing director of Kitale-based Kenya Seed Company.
Another high profile figure contending for the top post at the IIEC is 68 year-old Gabriel Mukele who is a former vice-chairman of the disbanded Electoral Commission of Kenya.
He was appointed to the commission the same time as besieged ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu but his term was not renewed when it expired in 2007.
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