Ethekon: I nearly didn’t apply for IEBC job

IEBC chair nominee Erastus Ethekon has told MPs that he only applied for the position after being encouraged by young people at a cyber café who believed he had what it takes to lead the electoral body.

Appearing before the National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, Ethekon said he was hesitant to apply when the position was first advertised.

"There was too much negativity around the job, and I was reluctant," he said.

He recalled being at his usual cyber café when three young people, Peter, Purity and Kizito urged him to go for the job.

"They looked at my documents and said, ‘You can lead this country through IEBC,"' Ethekon said.

At the time, Ethekon was working in South Africa and was unsure whether to apply for the chair or a commissioner’s role.

The youth went ahead and submitted applications for both. "They sent me a screenshot showing the submission while I was on my way to Angola," he said.

Ethekon clarified that the application was his own, and that he had signed and prepared all the documents.

"I asked them to submit once everything was ready. I still have a copy of my application," he said.

Responding to questions from the committee, Ethekon denied claims that he had been pushed by political interests or external forces.

"Let the record show that it was ordinary Kenyans who encouraged me. There was no pressure from any group," he said.

He added that he went through the public interview process and was shortlisted according to the law. “I gave my reasons for seeking the position, and the process followed the law,” he said.

The trajectory of former IEBC chairpersons, including Wafula Chebukati, who passed away on February 20, 2025, at the age of 63, has been marked by a troubling pattern of health complications, legal battles, threats, and untimely deaths.

Of Kenya’s four electoral commission chairpersons since the start of multiparty democracy in 1992, at least three have faced similar misfortunes.

Justice Zacchaeus Chesoni, a respected Kenyan jurist, served as the Chief Justice of Kenya from 1997 to 1999. Shortly after leaving office, he developed health complications that led to his death in 1999, also at the age of 63.

Samuel Mutua Kivuitu was appointed as deputy head of the defunct Electoral Commission in 1992 under Chesoni.

He later succeeded him as chairman, overseeing the 1997, 2002, and 2005 elections, and presided over the troubled 2007 general election.

His handling of the 2007 presidential results—where he stated, “I don’t know who won the elections,” despite announcing Mwai Kibaki as the winner—triggered post-election violence that claimed at least 1,300 lives and displaced more than 600,000 people.

The aftermath led to the disbandment of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK).

Kivuitu’s final years were marked by illness.

He died of throat cancer at MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi on February 25, 2013, at the age of 74.

Issack Hassan followed Kivuitu, serving first as chairperson of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) from 2009 to 2011, and then as the first chairperson of the newly formed IEBC from November 2011 to October 2016.

During his time at the helm, the 2013 general election was challenged by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Hassan later returned to public service as chairperson of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), a position he currently holds.

Wafula Chebukati’s tenure during the 2017 and 2022 elections was also turbulent. He oversaw two hotly contested elections, including the 2017 poll, which was annulled by the Supreme Court—the first such ruling in Africa.