All eyes are now on Chief Justice Martha Koome after President William Ruto on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, defied a court order and gazetted the appointment of Erastus Edung Ethekon and six others as the chairperson and commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

In a Gazette Notice dated June 10, 2025, the President appointed Edung, Registrar of Political Parties, Ann Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah.

This comes after the new electoral body team, which was nominated by President Ruto on May 8, 2025, was formally approved by the National Assembly last week following a vetting process.

The gazettement of the seven was in contravention of an order issued by Justice Lawrence N. Mugambi on May 29, 2025, that barred the nominee commissioners from being gazetted, taking oath of office or assuming office.

Final safeguard

On June 11, 2025, activists Kelvin Roy Omondi and Boniface Mwangi, through their advocates, wrote to the Judiciary urging it not to participate in any oath-taking and/or assumption of office of the gazetted IEBC chairperson and commissioners.

In the matter, the petitioners have emphasised that the Judiciary, as the final safeguard of constitutionalism and the rule of law, must not lend its institutional support to the violation of a lawful court order, especially while the matter is still under active judicial consideration before a three-judge bench empanelled on May 30, 2025.

The president’s move now puts Justice Koome at a crossroads on whether she will allow the swearing-in of the commissioners.

In his ruling, Justice Mugambi had observed that the case raises weighty questions touching on the sovereignty of the people, noting that the issues cannot be brushed aside without proper judicial examination.

“That pending the hearing and determination of this Petition, a Conservatory Order is hereby issued forbidding and or preventing the gazettement, taking of oath or assuming office by the interested parties, namely Erastus Ethekon, Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Mukhwana, Mary Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Aduol, and Fahima Abdallah or any other persons as the chairman or commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission,” Justice Mugambi had directed.

The judge had, however, allowed the National Assembly to proceed with the vetting and approval of the nominees, subject to the order granted.

He subsequently forwarded the file to Chief Justice Martha Koome for the empanelment of a bench to hear the petition.

On June 11, 2025, Constitutional lawyer Bob Mkangi warned that the president’s move creates legal dangers ahead for the new electoral agency bosses.

“This already creates a legal minefield for the proposed IEBC because even if the court allows the team to be sworn into office, someone can move to court to challenge its legality since their names were gazetted in total contravention of the court order,” he told  People Daily.

Mkangi says the president should have held his horses on the gazettment of the new commissioners until the court heard and determined the petition.

Mkangi urged Justice Koome not to give in to any pressure to swear in the gazetted commissioners, warning that she would not only have ridiculed the judiciary that she leads but would have also sent signals to Kenyans to ignore court orders.

Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi says the president’s decision creates a bad precedent on the rule of law.

Scuttle process

According to Mwangangi, the gazettement sends signals that Ruto and his government no longer respect the courts and can proceed with issues barred by them.

“The gazettement even sends a message to those who moved to the court that their efforts were in vain. The president ought to have respected the order and waited until the court heard and determined the petition,” Mwangangi said.

Mwangangi said the president’s decision could be a signal that he is out to scuttle the reconstitution of IEBC.

“What is the hurry that made him ignore a court order? I am suspicious that the president could be looking for a loophole that would propel some people to move to court to stop their appointment and later absolve himself from any blame,” Mwangangi claimed.

IEBC has operated without a full commission since early 2023.