The Commission in partnership with the Electoral Law Governance Institute for Africa (ELGIA) held a workshop on 18th July 2023 to validate the Report and Case Digest of the 2022 Pre-election Dispute Resolution.
The IEBC team was led by Marjan H. Marjan, the Commission Secretary/CEO, who noted that the workshop is a reminder of the successes that the Commission realized in the electoral processes preceding the 2022 General Election (GE), despite the many challenges faced during that period.
“The success of the Dispute Resolution Committees (DRC) process is a testament of those collaborative and targeted reforms. The Case Digest and Report were developed from the review of 2022 pre-election dispute resolution matters,” said Marjan.
Marjan noted that strong democracies worldwide are characterized by effective and reliable Electoral Dispute Resolution mechanisms. The Commission has, over the years, worked throughout the electoral cycle to strengthen its processes.
After the registration of candidates for the 2022 General Election (GE), the Commission received a total of 324 complaints arising from disputes on registration of Candidates for the 2022 GE. These disputes were heard from 11th to 19th June, 2022.
“Unlike in 2013 and 2017 GEs where the Commission only constituted one Panel to hear all the matters filed with it, the 2022 GE had the Commission set up 3 Panels that heard and determined the cases that accounted for one of the successes of the 2022 DRC processes. With continued reforms, this process will be more efficient and seamless in the coming years,” said Marjan.
The engagement framework between the Commission and Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) still needs to be deliberated upon, fine-tuned and the processes properly anchored in law with clear timelines that are cognizant of the electoral timelines to avoid receiving decisions way later in other electoral processes.
“I welcome you to share your inputs and thoughts on the Case Digest and Report and make proposals on how the Commission can improve these documents and the process in the long run,” said Marjan.
Ruth Kulundu, the Deputy Commission Secretary (DCS) in charge of Operations lauded the early response from ELGIA to support the Commission. “I applaud the work done by the Legal Services Directorate on the Case Digest and the Report of the Commission’s 2022 Pre-Election Dispute Resolution and thank ELGIA for coming on board to support the Commission this early. We are happy you are working with us,” said Kulundu.
On his part, Obadiah Keitany, the IEBC DCS for Support Services lauded ELGIA for their support throughout the electoral cycle and acknowledged that the 2022 dispute process was intense and consumed all the Commission’s energy as it endeavored not to deny any aggrieved person to stand for election.
“Your commitment, teamwork and willingness to work odd hours is commendable. The Panel of chairpersons sat long hours together with the Commission to hear all disputes were filed to the DRC,” said Obadiah Keitany.
Chrispine Owiye, the Director Legal Services, said each DRC panel had a secretary, a team of assisting counsel, legal assistant, clerk, stenographer and an investigation officer. The Case Digest and Report is a great milestone on the work done tirelessly to inform future DRC’s operations.