APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 89. 90. Also, against the backdrop of seeming inaction and vacuum at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission less than a year before the next general election in 2017, findings presented a different picture of a Commission more alive to its responsibilities and drawing appropriate lessons from the past, including the recent past. For instance, following the 2013 elections, the Commission developed a strategic plan for the period 2015-2020 as well as an elections operations plan for the 2017 general elections. The Plan is based on three pillars, namely: • Election management pillar: Under this pillar is a series of mass voter registration and voter register clean-up through the biometric system leading to the 2017 elections; development of guidelines for nomination of candidates for the elections by political parties to address concern in the past that this exercise had not been done properly and standardized; development of a voter education curriculum, and seeking amendment to the electoral law; • Institutional Transformation pillar: This involves reviewing internal systems and policies and developing capacity and performance management systems for staff. Under this pillar, the Commission has also been managing the transition from the Commissioners that tendered their resignations following recent objections to their membership of the Commission. The resignation would be with effect from 30 November 2016. Advertisements for their replacement closed on 07 November 2016, so the hope has been that a new crop of Commissioners should be in place by or around 30 November 2016. Following amendments, the current crop of seven Commissioners and a Chair (eight in all) would be replaced by six Commissioners and a Chair (seven in all). Expectations are that the new commissioners may assume office early in 2017. • Trust and Participation Pillar: Under this, the Commission has developed a framework for engagement with key stakeholders, including political parties, civil society and faith-based organisations, and the media. A related set of issues, some traced to the IEBC and others to the Office of the Registrar of Parties, have also been raised. One has to do with whether the absence of national commissioners at the IEBC so close to the 8 August 2017 election is not enough justification for the shifting of the election from August to December 2017. The response of the IEBC secretariat, in the words of its Chief Executive Officer, Ezra Chiloba, especially in the face of threat to boycott the election on the said ground, issued late 2016 by opposition leader Raila Odinga, has been that the IEBC has been operating within the law in its actions while the vacancies in the offices of the chair and electoral commissioners lasted. Mr Chiloba argued that stalling all electoral activities until the new electoral commissioners are appointed could in fact scuttle the 2017 election, given the limited time left for preparations and the fact that electoral commissioners are not involved in such matters currently engaging the commission such as selecting a company to audit the voter register, or procurement of election equipment that requires 120 days for open tender. | 81 |