Mbeere North Member of Parliament Geoffrey Ruku on Monday, January 27, 2025, weighed on President William Ruto’s decision to appoint and immediately gazette the nine members to sit on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) selection panel to oversee the process of selecting chairperson and commissioners.

Speaking on K24 TV‘s New Dawn show, Ruku claimed that the appointments needed to be done expeditiously before the opening of the courts to prevent any other person from obtaining orders barring the process.

A High court sitting in Nairobi lifted the orders late on Friday, January 24, 2025, paving the way for the appointment of the selection panel.

According to Ruku, the late Friday verdict and the early Monday morning gazettement paved the way for the swearing of the nine members to sit on the panel which will be critical in picking the next IEBC chairperson and commissioners without facing another hurdle.

“You need to recognise that this gazette notice has come out very early in the morning before the courts open because there was still room for someone to go to court,” the Mbeere North MP stated.

“Because this is a decision that came out last week on Friday and the courts do not operate on weekends so it necessary for this gazette notice to be out very early in the morning before courts open so that the swearing-in can be conducted. I am sure that are people somewhere who are planning to go back to the court for an appeal or something like that,” he added.

Hon. Geoffrey Ruku: The IEBC selection panel gazette notice came out very early in the morning before the courts were opened. This decision came out last week on Friday.#NewDawn pic.twitter.com/6fRSSdeN4o

— K24 TV (@K24Tv) January 27, 2025

Ruto, in several instances, had declared his readiness to appoint the IEBC selection panel. During their western tour, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi challenged those who had moved to court to drop the cases and allow the country to get new IEBC heads.

He further dismissed claims that the government was behind the delayed reconstitution process.

The panel

Ruto settled on various professionals to sit on that critical bench that would help the country get its IEBC chairperson and commissioners who are key individuals for the electoral body.

They include Kiome Lindah Gakii, Communication professional Oloo Adams, James Evans Misati, Nicodemus Kipchirchir Bore, and Ambassador Koki Muli Grignon.

Others are Carolene Kituku Tanui Andrew Kipkoech, Nelson Makanda and Fatuma Saman.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 7A of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act, as read with paragraph 1 (2) of the First Schedule to the Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint (the 9-member team) to be Members of the Selection Panel for the Recruitment of nominees for appointment as the Chairperson and Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” read the notice in part.