August 23, 2014 - Today's News In Gazetikenya

Experts query bid to change election date.

Legal experts have questioned the bid to move the next General Election date from August to December. This follows the move by Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to approve a Bill seeking to amend the Constitution and shift the date of the General Election. Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and other experts say the proposed date will not be practical as the mandate of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will have expired a month earlier.

CIC chair Charles Nyachae yesterday said he was not sure new IEBC commissioners will have been picked within a month to conduct polls in December. “The tenure of IEBC expires in November 2017 and I think this is a key factor MPs should have considered before changes,” Mr Nyachae, who was flanked by his five commissioners, said. Chairman of defunct Committee of Experts Nzamba Kitonga and LSK chairman Eric Mutua also confirmed the expiry date of IEBC tenure while sharing similar sentiments. “The process of appointing IEBC commissioners takes not less than three months. It is, therefore, unrealistic for anyone to say they will be able to appoint them within a month so they can conduct elections in December,” Mr Kitonga told the Saturday Nation. Mr Mutua said Kenya may consider holding future polls in December but not in 2017.


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