By OTIENO OTIENO

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Kenya’s electoral commission is fighting new allegations of involvement in a conspiracy to sabotage a constitutional referendum planned for later this year.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) released a statement last week on Thursday denying a role in the submission of different copies of the constitutional amendment Bill to local parliaments — known as county assemblies — the National Assembly and the Senate for debate.

Experts tasked with scrutinising the Bill by a committee of the national parliament identified errors in the two versions of the Bill, including references to non-existent or wrong clauses, which could expose it to more challenges in the courts.

The promoters of the Building Bridges Initiative-driven reforms, which sent the original copies of the Bill to the IEBC, sought to play down any legal threats to the referendum, saying the ‘typographical errors’ will be corrected by the Attorney-General.

But, members of the joint Senate and National Assembly committee preparing to table the proposed legislation in the House this week have raised concerns that the courts might find illegalities in its debate and stop the plebiscite.

The MPs’ fears will add to the anxiety that has engulfed the BBI-driven constitutional changes arising from at least 10 cases filed against them in recent months, including four at the Supreme Court.

Away from the courts, the conspiracy theories over a fake constitutional amendment Bill are already threatening to give the electoral commission a bloody nose at the worst possible time.

The IEBC has had a strained relationship with the opposition, which views the polls referee with suspicion after the Supreme Court found it at fault for the irregularities cited for the nullification of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election victory in September 2017.

The country’s biggest opposition party ODM, which is led by former prime minister Raila Odinga, has been pushing for the IEBC’s disbandment, and more recently backed a proposal in the report of the BBI reforms task force to have political parties nominate commissioners instead of an independent selection.

The proposal was excluded from the constitutional amendment Bill after it proved politically divisive.

President Kenyatta recently appointed a selection panel to replace four commissioners, who have resigned in controversial circumstances in the past three years, setting the stage for a revamp of the electoral commission ahead of the 2022 elections.

Sense of triumph

The decision to maintain the status quo was most likely received with a sense of triumph at Anniversary Towers, the IEBC’s headquarters in Nairobi, where the chairman Wafula Chebukati has consistently agitated against any disruptive changes with only one year to the elections.

But, the celebration is likely to be shortlived in light of the emerging political rhetoric linking it to the BBI cock-up.

In addition to re-energising IEBC’s familiar haters in the opposition to go after it, the suspicions over the embarrassing errors in the Bill could also cost the commission crucial allies in President Kenyatta’s administration.

Among the erroneous clauses highlighted by the experts is the one on delineation of boundaries — a matter in which the commission and key administration figures are known to have considerable interest in.

President Kenyatta has been pushing for additional constituencies to the populous counties to address the inequitable distribution of resources resulting from past gerrymandering.

Last month, Mr Chebukati appeared to take issue with the allocation of the 70 new constituencies created under the Bill to specific counties, telling the joint legal and justice affairs committee of the Senate and National Assembly that it was the mandate of the IEBC.