On March, 2018, the Commission established an internal Legal Task Force which was mandated to review the election legal framework and propose amendments to improve the next electoral cycle. By conducting its own internal legal review, IEBC aims to set the stage, guide the agenda and make informed proposals on electoral reforms in the country. The Commission will also be able to identify recommendation(s) that will require Constitutional and/or statutory amendment which can be achieved through the drafting of new or amending current regulations and procedures to facilitate future elections.

It is against this background that the Legal Task Force held its inaugural workshop in July, 2018 where they developed a list of priority recommendations for reforms, defined a methodology for electoral reforms and reviewed recommendations from observer groups and election experts. They also incorporated principles and best practices of electoral reforms based on comparative country examples. The list allowed the team to develop a matrix compiling all legal recommendations produced from observer reports, Post-Election Evaluation (PEE) report and Election Petition decisions from the 2017 GE and FPE.

To further enrich the electoral reform matrix, the team with the support of IFES held a 3- Day workshop from 27th to 30th June, 2019 where they met with the Commission’s Election Master Trainers and representatives from Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) and Electoral Law and Governance Institute for Africa (ELGIA) to draw insight and recommendations from their wealth of regional experience and practical knowledge in their areas of expertise. In his welcoming remarks, Commissioner Prof. Adbi Guliye urged the participants to reflect on the success and setbacks of the 2017 GE and FPE to inform their contributions to the matrix in order to make meaningful reforms to the electoral processes. In his speech during the official opening of the workshop, the IEBC Chairman, Wafula Chebukati urged participants to undertake a complete audit and identify gaps in all electoral laws and policies while drawing amendments to enhance the integrity, relevance and adequacy of the legal framework for the 2022 General Election.