The December 2007 elections brought into question Kenya’s electoral process and the role and performance of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). One year later, after post-election violence that left over 1300 people dead and thousands displaced, the ECK has been disbanded amidst widespread demands that the new Commission be independent, and that its commissioners be credible.
This follows the report of the Independent Review Commission that recommends radical reform of the ECK, or the creation of a new electoral management body “with a new name, image and ethos committed to administrative excellence in the service of electoral integrity, composed of a lean, policy-making and supervisory board, selected in a transparent and inclusive process, interacting with a properly-structured professional secretariat,”