Renowned constitutional lawyer PLO Lumumba has delivered a scathing indictment of Kenya’s political order, branding the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as fundamentally "incompetent" and declaring the country’s opposition effectively "nonexistent."

Speaking in Nairobi just hours after being gazetted as a Senior Counsel, Lumumba did not mince words. His warning comes at a precarious moment: with the 2027 General Election less than two years away, the referee is sidelined, and the watchdog, he argues, has gone to sleep.

The Referee is Broken

Lumumba’s diagnosis of the electoral body is clinical and damning. He argues that the paralysis at the IEBC is not accidental but a result of "political bad manners" designed to sabotage the institution.

"We focus too much on the commissioners," Lumumba noted, emphasizing that while they are the public face, the institution's rot runs deeper. He criticized the "navel-gazing" culture of appointments, where merit is sacrificed for tribal balancing.

• Tribal Hiring: Lumumba warned that the obsession with appointing "our people" has turned the commission into a venue for ethnic bargaining rather than a professional body.
• Structural Paralysis: He pointed out that without a fully constituted commission, the critical work of boundary delimitation and voter roll auditing is stalled.
• The Consequence: A weak IEBC today guarantees a contested, chaotic outcome in 2027.

A "Nonexistent" Opposition

Turning his lens to the political opposition, Lumumba was equally ruthless. He described the current opposition as a ghost of its former self, unable to offer a credible alternative to the government.

This assessment follows the opposition's stinging defeat in the recent Mbeere North by-election—a loss that has sparked blame games between Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and other political heavyweights. For Lumumba, these squabbles are merely symptoms of a terminal illness.

"The opposition is nonexistent," he asserted. In his view, the handshake politics and "broad-based" government deals have eroded the line between the executive and those meant to check it. For the common mwananchi, this means there is no one left to fight against rising taxes or demand accountability for public spending.

The Senior Counsel Irony

There is a rich irony in the timing of these remarks. On Wednesday, December 10, President William Ruto conferred the prestigious rank of Senior Counsel on Lumumba, alongside 53 other top advocates including National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.

Yet, Lumumba’s acceptance of the honor has not silenced his critique of the state. He remains a lone voice warning that titles and accolades mean little if the country’s foundational institutions are crumbling.

"We are sleepwalking into a crisis," Lumumba warned. "If we do not fix the referee now, we will have no game to play in 2027."