Health CS Aden Duale has lauded the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon.
Duale said he knows Ethekon at a personal level, and he is a qualified lawyer who will transform the Commission.
The CS expressed confidence that once IEBC is put in place, the election will run smoothly in 2027.
He questioned why a section of Kenyans were against Ethekon assuming the office as its chairperson, saying they were castigating him because he comes from a different community.
“I am happy the first minority has become the chairman of IEBC, a Turkana, very qualified, I know him at personal level. Very qualified lawyer. People are complaining IEBC, not because they have a problem with IEBC, it is because they have a problem with the chairman, why is he coming from Turkana? The constitution has given him and the others,” he said.
Ethekon and six commissioners were sworn into office at an event held at the Supreme Court Buildings on Friday, July 11, 2025.
Ethekon took his oath of office alongside six commissioners, who will serve a six-year term.
The commissioners are Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat Abdallah.
The swearing-in ceremony on Friday, presided by Chief Justice Martha Koome, paved the way for the seven to formally assume their roles at the Electoral Commission.
It came after President William Ruto formally gazette the appointments to regularise the process following a recent High Court ruling.
In Gazette Notice No. 9269, dated July 10, 2025, Ruto appointed Ethekon as the new Chairperson of the IEBC for the stipulated period.
In a separate Gazette Notice No. 9270, also dated July 10, 2025, Ruto named six individuals to serve as IEBC commissioners for a similar term.
On Thursday, the High Court quashed the earlier gazettment but gave the green light for the appointments to be lawfully reissued.
Justices Roselyne Aburili, John Chigiti, and Bahati Mwamuye found that Gazette Notices No. 7724 and 7725, dated June 10, 2025, violated interim conservatory orders issued on May 29, 2025.
As a result, the initial Gazette Notice was quashed, necessitating a fresh publication in line with the judgment.
The three-judge bench, however, declined to nullify the appointments, stating that the defect lay in the process of formalisation and not in the merit of the individuals appointed.