Two-time presidential petitions lawyer Melissa Ng’ania has assured Kenyans she will be impartial if appointed commissioner of the electoral body, despite her prominent role as legal counsel for former President Uhuru Kenyatta and current President William Ruto in Supreme Court cases.

In 2017, Ng’ania represented Uhuru in a petition filed by opposition leader Raila Odinga challenging his re-election. Five years later, she returned to the Supreme Court during another petition filed by Raila and Martha Karua contesting President Ruto’s election.

The 40-year-old lawyer told the selection panel for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that her relationship with both Presidents was strictly professional.

When questioned about potential conflicts of interest, Ng’ania emphasised that her services were provided purely on merit.

“I represented them as a client. I never represented them in the office. They came to us because of the services that we were able to handle,” she said.

“I have never had any personal relationship with [Ruto]. I don’t even know whether he would remember that I was a member of that team.”

Impartiality concerns

She dismissed concerns about impartiality, stating: “What guides me is the law, structures that are in place and what it is that I need to do. This commission will ask me: What is it that you have that makes you relevant for this job? That gives me then the experience that is required to man this job and it is a plus.”

The panel’s scrutiny followed last week’s withdrawal of lawyer Katwa Kigen, a close Ruto ally, after public concerns about the electoral body’s independence.

Meanwhile, former Jubilee Party deputy CEO Mary Chesang, also seeking to become IEBC commissioner, shared a disturbing incident from 2017 when an armed, disgruntled county assembly member who had lost in party primaries confronted her in her office in the middle of the night as she worked late.

The man demanded certification with falsified results.

“I don’t know how he got into the offices armed. He opened his coat and told me, ‘Look at these, they are not toys. This is my form 34 A and I want you to give me my certificate’,” Chesang recounted.

“He had added two zeros … I refused to change the result because I had an original form 34A.”

Chesang also addressed electoral reforms, suggesting Kenya adopt the National Dialogue Committee’s recommendations for constituency boundary review through a parliamentary process.

She emphasised that the IEBC must enforce the electoral code of conduct to prevent attacks from political parties.