Judgment No. CCZ 05/18 7 Const. Application No. 32/17 overpower, counteract or govern.” The phrase ‘direction or control’ was defined by the Kenyan Supreme Court in Re The Matter of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission [2011] eKLR as follows: “While bearing in mind that the various Commissions and independent offices are required to function free of subjection to “direction or control by any person or authority”, we hold that this expression is to be accorded its ordinary and natural meaning; and it means that the Commissions and independent offices, in carrying out their functions, are not to take orders or instructions from organs or persons outside their ambit.” The applicant referred the court to the case of New National Party v Government of the Republic of South Africa and Ors 1999 (3) SA 191 (CC) in which the South African Constitutional Court described the independence of Commissions as follows: “In dealing with the independence of the Commission, it is necessary to make a distinction between two factors, both of which, in my view, are relevant to “independence”. The first is “financial independence”. This implies the ability to have access to funds reasonably required to enable the Commission to discharge the functions it is obliged to perform under the Constitution and the Electoral Commission Act…The second factor, “administrative independence”, implies that there will be control over those matters directly connected with the functions which the Commission has to perform under the Constitution and the Act. The executive must provide the assistance that the Commission requires “to ensure [its] independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness”. The department cannot tell the Commission how to conduct registration, whom to employ, and so on; but if the Commission asks the government for assistance to provide personnel to take part in the registration process, government must provide such assistance if it is able to do so. If not, the Commission must be put in funds to enable it to do what is necessary.” The above authorities amplify the point that for independent commissions to be ‘independent’ and not under the ‘direction or control’ of any other party, they ought to be selfregulating and should not be influenced in the due performance of their functions by other organs of the state. The meaning to be ascribed to s 235 (1) of the Constitution is therefore that independent commissions should not be subject to guidance or regulation by external forces. The