President Ruto re-gazettes IEBC Chair Ethekon, six commissioners after court cites legal breach

President William Ruto has officially re-gazetted the appointment of Erastus Ethekon as the new chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), along with six commissioners, just hours after the High Court directed him to regularise the appointments.

In a gazette notice dated July 10, 2025, the President confirmed Ethekon’s appointment to a non-renewable six-year term, in line with the Constitution and the IEBC Act.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 250(2) as read with section 5(2) of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act and Paragraph 4 of the First Schedule to the Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Erastus Edung Ethekon to be the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, for a period of six (6) years,” read the notice.

The President also re-gazetted the names of six commissioners, including;

• Ann Njeri Nderitu

• Moses Alutalala Mukhwana

• Mary Karen Sorobit

• Hassan Noor Hassan

• Francis Odhiambo Aduol

• Fahima Araphat Abdallah

Null and void

The appointments came shortly after the High Court declared earlier gazette notices null and void, citing a violation of a conservatory order issued on May 29, 2025 by Justice Lawrence Mugambi.

The order had permitted Parliament to proceed with vetting but expressly barred the gazettement or assumption of office by the nominees, pending the determination of a petition challenging the process.

In its judgment delivered on Thursday by a three-judge bench comprising Justices Roselyne Aburili, John Chigiti, and Bahati Mwamuye, the court faulted the President for acting in breach of that order.

“The gazette notices issued by the President to formalise the appointments were unlawful as they had been published in violation of a valid and subsisting conservatory order,” the bench ruled.

Legality of appointments

Although the court upheld the overall legality of the appointments, it clarified that the process had not been fully regularised due to the premature gazettement.

“The President is, therefore, required to issue a fresh gazette notice to regularise the appointments in compliance with the court’s judgment,” the judges directed.

The re-gazettement now clears the way for the swearing-in of the IEBC commissioners, which is expected to take place on Friday, July 11.

The ruling also addressed several concerns raised by petitioners, including claims of ethnic imbalance, exclusion of persons with disabilities and allegations of nepotism.

On the issue of ethnic representation, the court said: “The petitioners did not provide credible proof that the selection lacked regional balance or ethnic diversity.”

The judges also ruled that the omission of persons with disabilities from the list was not unconstitutional and noted that the IEBC Selection Panel did not act illegally when it issued a second expanded shortlist.

Further, the bench held that recommendations by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) were not legally binding in the context of the appointments and dismissed claims of political bias stemming from the alleged family ties of one nominee to a senior opposition figure.

“The prayer by the petitioners to declare the seven IEBC nominees illegal, null and void is declined,” the court ruled, stating that the petition did not meet the threshold required under Articles 22 and 23 of the Constitution.