Karua: Voters should step in to appoint IEBC if leaders disagree

People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has declared that Kenyans have the constitutional power to directly nominate commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), especially in moments when state institutions appear to be failing the people.
Speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Tuesday,  8 July 2025, Karua said democracy does not only belong to those in office, but to the people themselves, who have the power to act when systems are broken or manipulated.
“The people can be able to even appoint an IEBC through direct exercise of power. It has not been done before, but it is possible,” Karua said.
“Power belongs to the people. Democracy is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. They have the final say.”
Karua drew comparisons with international events, citing the case of Bangladesh, where citizens, in an unprecedented show of unity, overthrew a sitting leader and chose their preferred leadership despite institutional limitations.
She said that should be a reminder to Kenyans that they, too, can take matters into their own hands if the democratic process is hijacked.
“The people of Bangladesh had not chased a leader from office before, but they did. They chose Yunus. I don’t know how they communicated, whether it was via the internet, but they did that directly,” the seasoned politician stated.
She said the same spirit of people-led change had already started taking shape in Kenya, especially through recent waves of youth-led protests that have caught the attention of both government and international observers.
“Even in Kenya, the people have the power to appoint the IEBC. Before June 2024, if someone had suggested that there would be an awakening, youths taking to the streets in a very patriotic way, we would have seen it as impossible,” she said.
“Gen Z have since surpassed that. They are organising it even better. If someone had said that a regime would sack a cabinet because the people have demanded, we would have said it’s impossible, but all that happened thanks to the young people saying Enough is enough. It is possible.”
Intentional delay
During the interview, Karua also launched a sharp attack on President William Ruto, accusing him of deliberately creating a leadership vacuum at the IEBC to interfere with the 2027 general polls.
She asserted that the president engineered the illegal exit of all commissioners to delay the electoral process and manipulate it in his favour.
“If Ruto wants us to meet him at the ballot, let him change his ways: he and his illegitimate rogue regime. If not, Kenyans have the power to terminate your contract earlier,” she warned.
“Ruto deliberately and illegally pushed out IEBC commissioners whose tenure would still have been valid to delay the process. It is not right that all commissioners go at the same time, and we are left without the IEBC. That is why there was a break in hiring.”
Karua’s remarks come at a time when the country is facing a serious electoral crisis. The IEBC has been without a chairperson or commissioners since the exit of the Cherera Four in 2022, and the retirement of former Chair Wafula Chebukati and commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye.
On 10 June 2025, President Ruto attempted to fill the vacant positions by appointing seven new commissioners, including Chairperson Erastus Ethekon. However, their swearing-in was blocked by a High Court order following a wave of legal petitions. The petitioners argued that the appointment process lacked inclusivity, transparency, gender balance, and failed to represent minorities and persons with disabilities, as required by the Constitution.
The High Court is expected to deliver a ruling on 10 July, which will determine whether the appointments stand or will be nullified.