The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) now says that it has received for petitions seeking to recall Members of Parliament (MPs) from office.

Speaking in Mombasa on Saturday, July 19, IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon said the electoral agency will act on the petitions depending on the weight of the matters raised in them.

“We have received roughly four of those petitions. Of course it is the right of every Kenyan to exercise that right of recall under the constitution. As IEBC, we will receive those petitions, we will examine them and we will respond to them accordingly,” Ethekon said, although he failed to mention the MPs targetted to be recalled.

Ethekon also outlined the newly-constituted Commission’s priority list as it lays groundwork for proper implementation. According to Ethekon, IEBC has prioritised conducting 23 by-elections countrywide, voter registration and education, boundaries review, as well as election legal reforms.

“The commission has moved to the Supreme Court seeking legal direction on the way forward over the delay in the boundary review, which was caused by the absence of commissioners,” he added.

IEBC — currently in a one-week induction exercise in Mombasa — said it will announce the opening of voter registration exercise in August this year, while pledging to kick off the by-elctions as soon as possible.

The Commsion has also mentioned the need for a better budgetary allocation that will ensure a seemless election process.