The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has suffered a setback after the High Court issued temporary orders stopping it from conducting interviews for the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The High Court in Malindi issued the orders on Thursday, November 5, following a petition filed by a resident of the coastal town challenging the transparency of the recruitment process.
According to court documents, the petitioner argued that IEBC had failed to demonstrate how it identified and verified applicants who eventually made it to the interview stage.
He also raised concerns over the composition of the shortlist, claiming that it included foreign nationals, contrary to the legal requirements governing the position.
In its ruling, the court certified the petition as urgent and issued conservatory orders barring IEBC from proceeding with the planned interviews until the case is heard and determined.
The decision comes days after the commission acknowledged receiving applications from foreign nationals but maintained that they were eliminated during the preliminary assessment for failing to meet the Kenyan citizenship requirement.
IEBC explained that it conducted verification of applicants' national identity documents, citizenship status and academic qualifications before arriving at the final shortlist.
“Upon verification of national ID, citizenship and academic credentials, the final shortlist contains only Kenyan citizens. All foreign applicants were disqualified at the preliminary stage for not meeting the citizenship requirement,” the commission stated.
On October 28, IEBC released the names of nine candidates shortlisted for the CEO position. The list comprised seven men and two women.
The commission had scheduled interviews for November 12 and 13, with candidates expected to receive individual communication on the interview venue.
Separate Petition Challenging IEBC Recruitment
The Malindi court's decision comes a day after another attempt to halt the recruitment process failed to secure urgent consideration at the Milimani Law Courts.
The separate petition was filed on Tuesday, November 4, by National Liberal Party (NLP) leader Augustus Kyalo Muli, who challenged the commission's decision to engage a private consultancy firm in handling key stages of the recruitment exercise.
In his application, Muli argued that the IEBC Act assigns appointment-related powers and responsibilities directly to the commission, meaning they cannot be transferred wholesale to a private entity.
He further accused IEBC of failing to make public the recruitment scoring matrix, evaluation criteria and contractual arrangements governing its engagement with the consultancy firm.
However, the High Court declined to certify the application as urgent, questioning why the petitioner had waited until the recruitment process was already at an advanced stage to raise the concerns.
Lady Justice Grace Aburili observed that the recruitment exercise had been publicly advertised for some time, with the application window having closed in August.
"I have perused the Petition and Notice of Motion dated November 3 filed under certificate of urgency. I observe that the application period closed on 11/8/2026 and candidates were longlisted and shortlisted. The shortlisted candidates are scheduled for 12th and 13th November 2026. I am not satisfied that the application is urgent, as the petitioner has had knowledge of the process being undertaken by the 1st Respondent and is in the public domain," Justice Aburili stated.
