Former IEBC Vice Chair Lilian Bokeeye Mahiri-Zaja is among 16 candidates shortlisted for the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) chairperson position.
Mahiri-Zaja, who held the IEBC Vice Chair role during the 2013 General Election, was selected by the panel to participate in public interviews for this government position.
The list published on May 26 also includes former IEBC Commissioner Thomas Letangule.
Letangule worked with Mahiri-Zaja at the electoral commission until its members resigned collectively in late 2016 amid political pressure from the opposition.
“After evaluating the applications, the Selection Panel selected Sixteen (16) candidates for the Chairperson position to proceed to interviews,” stated the notice from May 26.
Also featured on the list is Duncan Ojwang Oburu, who received a nomination in 2025 from President William Ruto for the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) chairmanship.
However, lobby groups contested the nomination, claiming it contravened constitutional gender balance requirements since the commission’s vice chair at the time was also male.
Ojwang later withdrew from the nomination.
He was later sworn into the technical panel under the expert team responsible for compensating protest victims, which was also appointed by the President.
Oburu has also worked with the technical team that developed the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report.
Additional notable names on the final shortlist include Legal advocate Demas Tuikong Kiprono and former Homa Bay County Assembly Speaker Elizabeth Atieno Ayoo.
The selection panel’s recommendation will be sent to the President for appointment to lead IPOA, a position left vacant after former IEBC chair Isaack Hassan stepped down.
Hassan resigned after being appointed as a Court of Appeal Judge.