The duo who are also Coalition Management Committee Co-Chairs will be joined in the task by Tongeren MP Eseli Simiyu, Mombasa County Woman Representative Mishi Mboko and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 2 – The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has nominated Senators James Orengo and Johnstone Muthama to led a five-member team to spearhead the structured dialogue on electoral reforms.
The duo who are also Coalition Management Committee Co-Chairs will be joined in the task by Tongeren MP Eseli Simiyu, Mombasa County Woman Representative Mishi Mboko and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.
“Following the announcement by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) Principals at the Madaraka Day rally held yesterday at Uhuru Park on the commitment of the Coalition to national dialogue on various matters of National importance including reforms in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the promise to name a team of five to sit on the dialogue table, CORD has nominated the following members of Parliament to represent it,” read the statement from CORD Chief of Staff Andrew Mondoh.
Lawyer Paul Mwangi and Grace Katasi have been nominated to serve as joint secretaries.
The announcement follows Madaraka Day’s declaration where CORD Co- Principals Raila Odinga and Moses Wetangula gave the government a four-day ultimatum to name its team to the “negotiating table” or they will return to the streets on Monday.
State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu denied media reports that President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga struck a deal to begin talks to solve the impasse regarding the reconstitution of the IEBC commissioners before the upcoming General Election.
Esipisu stressed that the only channel President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto will use to address the issue is the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.
“No such agreement was struck, as it would have been inconsistent with President Kenyatta’s stand on the subject, which is that any discussions on the IEBC or any other constitutional body must be done within confines of the law,” the statement read in part.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee proposed changes to the manner in which electoral commissioners are recruited and provided for the majority and minority parties to have a role.
The committee proposed amendments to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act to allow the inclusion of the nominees of the parties in the panel that will recruit fresh commissioners.
In the proposed changes, the panel will have seven members, four of whom will be picked by the political parties and three by the Public Service Commission.
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