A candidate for the position of a commissioner at the electoral agency was yesterday taken to task over her proficiency in Kiswahili language.

Florence Simbiri-Jaoko, a former chairperson at Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) was at pains to tell the interview panel a of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to explain she had a good grasp of the language.

The matter arose after she struggled to complete sentences in Kiswahili, prompting the panelists to ask that she demonstrate how she would explain her roles to voters who don’t speak English.

“Let me just explain this in English. When I was a judicial officer in Kibera, I could hardly speak Kiswahili. But in one year’s time, I used to deliver my judgments in Swahili,” she said.

“When you are in that environment, and people are giving their evidence in Kiswahili, you get to know the language. I was actually the one asking lawyers to just ask in Kiswahili.”

Simbiri-Jaoko accused the commission of failing to update its voter registration biometric records during the 2017 General Election.

She narrated how she went to cast her vote in 2017 only to find her details missing in the commission’s biometric system.

“I feel very bad. In 2017 when I went to vote, I was shocked when I put my fingerprint and they could not find me…and then I was given a book they checked and I wondered, I am in St George’s in Nairobi…if I cannot be found by the biometrics, what about somebody who is from somewhere else…and there was no explanation, you are just moved to another place so I was not happy about it,” she recalled. 

Media campaigns 

She called on the commission to implement robust social media campaigns in order to reach out to the youth,“ she said.

 Another candidate, former chair East-African Processing Zone (EPZ) Francis Wanderi said he would employ a multi-sectoral approach to ensure corruption has been dealt with during polls.

“It is high time Kenyans understood the value of their vote. The best way to do so is to collaborate with various stakeholders to come up with a program on how they will be sensitized to come out in large numbers and elect a leader of their choice,” said Wanderi.

 Harriette Chigai, a former vice-president of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) who was the last one to face the panel was  taken to task regarding her association with the Amani National Congress (ANC) party and how it would affect the discharge of her duties as an IEBC commissioner if appointed.

She however maintained that if appointed to the commission, she would remain non-partisan.