Confident that the commissioners of the IEBC will be sent packing, Cord, with support from some Jubilee leaders, now aims to remove some Secretariat officials as well.
Panic has gripped the Secretariat of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the agency's nerve centre, amid indications that some top staff could be kicked out in the looming purge.
All is set for talks between the two coalitions with most MPs - as the minority parties continue to demand inclusion - setting the stage for the sacking of the commissioners, including chairman Isaack Hassan.
The wording of the motion that may be tabled in the National Assembly today has been agreed on by the two coalitions. This is an indication that the Select Parliamentary Committee set up to negotiate a deal will also inquire into allegations of misconduct by individual members of the Secretariat.
The motion says the "mandate of the Joint Select Committee shall be to inquire into allegations against the IEBC Commissioners and the Secretariat".
It goes on: "On the basis of findings, recommend modalities for vacation from office of the IEBC Commissioners and Secretariat if necessary in accordance with the Constitution".
The Opposition chiefs led by Raila Odinga have previously trained their guns on the commissioners, accusing them of bias, corruption, rigging the 2013 polls and scuttling the Okoa Kenya referendum bid.
However, sources within Cord said they want to clean up the entire commission after Jubilee agreed to far- reaching electoral reforms.
Part of the mandate of the joint team states: "Recommend legal, policy and institutional reforms to strengthen the IEBC so as to ensure that the August 2017 elections are held in a simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent manner".
IEBC chief executive officer Ezra Chiloba could easily become a target after he was indicted by a key watchdog committee of Parliament for "irregularly" paying Sh258 million balance for biometric voter registration (BVR) kits.
The Parliamentary Accounts Committee recommended that Chiloba, a PhD student at the University of Nairobi, be surcharged and barred from holding public office.
Chiloba was not in office when the BVR kits for the 2013 elections were procured.
Chiloba has two deputies – Beatrice Sungura-Nyabuto, the deputy commission secretary in charge of Operations, and Marjan Hussein Marjan, in charge of Support.
The critical IT department is led by James Muhati Buyekane, a former boss of Information Systems at the troubled Kenya Airways. The Directorate of Finance is headed by Osman Hassan Ibrahim; Obadiah Keitany heads Risk and Compliance; Praxedes Tororey heads the Directorate of Legal and Public Affairs; and Immaculate Kassait is at the helm of the Directorate of Voter Registration and Electoral Operations.
Other Secretariat staff include Sellestine Kiuluku (Director, Human Resources and Administration), Rasi Masudi (Director, Voter Education and Partnerships) and Decimah Isalano (Director, Research and Development).
In an interview with the Star, Chiloba cautioned against what he termed tampering with technical operations 14 months to the polls.
"There is no doubt that all players know that the elections will be held next year and it would be imprudent to tamper with the technical preparations or fail to meet the critical timelines for this election," he said.
"Managing the multiple layered elections is not easy and we hope good sense will prevail in the ongoing deliberations on the future of the Commission," he said.
The CEO said his team is ready to offer perspectives on what is most desirable for the country in the proposed Cord-Jubilee talks, but noted the process is political.
There were indications that Cord could donate one slot in the seven-member negotiating team to Kanu, whose secretary general Nick Salat moved to the streets with the Opposition to push out the electoral chiefs.
However, Raila is said to have been uncomfortable with the Kanu nominee, Hellen Sambili, whom he sacked as East African Cooperation Minister when he was Prime Minister during the Grand Coalition Government.
Sambili at the time teamed up with the then ODM rebels, among them William Ruto (now Deputy President) to stage a mega-rebellion against the Prime Minister.
There is speculation Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Wiper) could also join Cord's five-member negotiating team.
However, Siaya Senator James Orengo is said to have strongly favoured Busia Senator and former Attorney General Amos Wako (ODM).
Apart from the 14-member panel, the two coalitions have agreed to provide no more than three persons from each side to act as experts to the Joint Select Committee as well as one rapporteur.
Sources said Raila's former legal aide Paul Mwangi, constitutional lawyer Anthony Oluoch as well as Cord CEO Norman Magaya could be the legal experts from the Opposition. It remains unclear who Jubilee is eyeing for these positions.
Following complaints from other electoral stakeholders, the two sides of the political divide have agreed to receive views from outside Parliament.
The Inter-Religious Council of Kenya has proposed that the IEBC commissioners be facilitated to leave office with full pay for the remainder of their term. However, Cord has insisted that taxpayers' money will not be used to pay commissioners implicated in the ChickenGate scandal.
In December 2008, the then Electoral Commission of Kenya was disbanded through a Bill in Parliament that only needed a two-thirds majority of 145 MPs to be passed into law.
During the vote, 169 MPs voted in favour of sending ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu and his 21 commissioners home.
Kivuitu and his team, who were accused of bungling the 2007 polls, however moved to court challenge the constitutionality of Parliament's legislation to disband the Commission.
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