Former CJ David Maraga vows to restructure IEBC to empower youth, end vote-buying

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been singled out by former Chief Justice David Maraga as the first institution he would reform if given the opportunity, arguing that the current electoral framework favours the rich and marginalises the youth.

Maraga, who spoke during an interview with K24 TV on Monday, said Kenya’s political system has locked out many young people from leadership by allowing money to dominate politics.

“If given a chance, one of the first things I would do is to restructure the IEBC. The goal is to ensure that our youth have a real chance to run for office without needing billions of shillings. We need to take money out of politics,” he said.

He condemned the widespread culture of vote-buying and heavy campaign spending, warning that such practices entrench corruption and undermine democratic processes.

“Somebody spends billions of shillings, wonderful, but all that money is money that they have stolen. Even those who bring out money, we must ask, where did it come from? he posed.

The former CJ highlighted how economic desperation among ordinary Kenyans is being exploited by politicians to secure power.

“You go to a campaign rally, and people are lined up, being given Sh500 each. It’s not because they like those politicians so much, it’s because they’re desperate. That Sh500 means a meal for the day,” he said.

He criticised the current leadership for failing to uphold constitutional principles of inclusivity, integrity and accountability.

“We have Article 10, which talks about the principles of governance. We’re supposed to promote inclusivity, integrity, and accountability, but none of that is being followed,” he said.

He further accused Parliament of being the weakest link in implementing constitutional reforms, particularly on gender and disability representation.

“It’s been more than a decade. Parliament was supposed to pass laws so that no more than two-thirds of any elected or appointed body is from one gender. That has never been done,” Maraga said.

He called for a constitutional reset, saying, “When we talk about a reset, we mean going back to the Constitution. We’re talking about implementing public finance principles, transparency, accountability and equitable sharing of resources.”

He suggested that a functioning democracy would have already acted against President William Ruto and remove him from office.

“In an ideal country, in an ideal democracy, Parliament would have impeached the president by now. Kenya cannot continue on a path where money determines leadership. We must restore hope to the youth. They deserve a system that gives them a fair shot, not one that asks them to buy their way into power,” he said.

Maraga warned that Kenya risks sliding into a failed State, citing the violent crackdown on protesters and alleged human rights violations under the current administration.

“We are getting into a failed State. There is a political and economic crisis in the country that needs to be addressed squarely. You haven’t heard, in a democratic State, where the right to picket, which is in the Constitution, is cramped upon, and those who are picketing, instead of addressing their issues, you want to silence them, you want to kidnap them and kill them. We have never heard, in a peaceful State, a President issuing orders to shoot,” Maraga said.

The former CJ directly accused President Ruto of "terrorising citizens", promising to challenge him in the 2027 elections.

“The President is terrorising his own people. Parliament — there is that provision on how to deal with that case. Parliament is supposed to take action when the President is violating the Constitution and impeach him. The President has captured Parliament, so they can’t dare to tell him anything,” Maraga said.

“I have come up, and I have support to remove him in 2027. I am very confident that I will remove him. People are tired, people want change. I don’t have money, and I’m going to appeal to Kenyans. We have set up a website, and within two days in Kenya, we had more than Sh500,000 and those in the diaspora have put in dollars.”

Maraga also warned that Kenya faces the risk of a debt crisis, citing uncontrolled borrowing since 2013.

“If we stop wastage and control corruption, we will have enough resources to deal with the challenges we have,” he said.

“Public debt has gone haywire from 2013. It has risen to unimaginable levels that, unless we take care, Kenya is going to default, and if so, we will see what we have never seen. We should ensure institutions are controlled by the law so that nobody can act with impunity.”