Editor's Review

The names of the candidates will be published in local dailies on Thursday, March 6, 2025.

The Selection Panel For The Recruitment Of The Nominees For Appointment As Chairperson And Members Of the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that it has narrowed down the number of applicants to 1,356.

In a media brief sent to the newsrooms on Wednesday, March 5, the chairperson of the selection panel Nelson Makanda said that out of the 1,356 applicants, 1,319 are for member positions while 37 individuals have applied for the chairperson position.

Makanda noted that out of the 37 individuals long-listed for the IEBC chairperson role, 31 are male and 6 are female. Three of the applicants are persons living with disabilities (PWDs).

The panel received a total of 1,848 applications by the deadline on February 15, 2025. 

Makanda mentioned that the panel undertook a careful and thorough review of all email and hard copy applications received.

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File image of an IEBC setup at Bomas of Kenya.

During the review, a total of 211 applications were found to be duplicates either in soft or hard copy, 91 were un-referenced, 14 were stray applications, and 176 were email replies by applicants to the Panel’s email auto response.

“To account for the number released on the 16th of February 2025, a total of 211 applications were duplicates either in soft or hard copy, 91 were un-referenced, 14 were stray applications and 176 were email replies by applicants to the Panel’s Email auto response acknowledgement,” Makanda stated.

The selection panel chair also announced that the longlist of the candidates will be published in local dailies on Thursday, March 6, 2025.

“The longlist of applicants for the positions is now ready and will be published tomorrow, Thursday 6th March, 2025 in two newspapers of nationwide circulation, the Kenya Gazette and the Parliamentary Website,” Makanda added.

Further, he announced that the selection Panel will proceed to shortlist the candidates from the longlist before proceeding with the interviews.

“Following the longlisting exercise, the Selection Panel shall now proceed to undertake the shortlisting process, the list of which will also be published soon before proceeding for the interviews.

“The Panel would like to assure the public that it is working within its timelines and on course to complete its work within the 90-day deadline set out in the First Schedule to the IEBC Act,” Makanda added.