Election will not delay - Kibaki

Wednesday, 23 March 2011 00:01 BY FRANCIS MUREITHI

PROMISE: President Mwai Kibaki at the opening of the fourth session of Parliament yesterday.

President Kibaki yesterday ruled out postponement of the 2012 general elections. He said the elections, which will bring his term to an end, should be conducted as scheduled.
In his address to Parliament, President Kibaki appeared to trash a position taken by some of the PNU and ODM MPs who are asking the general elections be postponed in case Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto are charged at the International Criminal Court.“The next General Election will be held in less than two years from today. As we approach this important event, it is in the interest of all of us to ensure that the elections are conducted within a framework that guarantees the free and fair exercise of people’s choices,” said Kibaki.
The MPs including Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa), John Mututho (Naivasha) and Joshua Kuttuny (Cherangany), are championing a campaign that the 2012 election be postponed if Uhuru and Ruto are charged by the ICC over the 2007-08 post-election violence.
In his speech during a special sitting of Parliament, the President opposed the prosecution of the post-election violence suspects at The Hague. Kibaki said the new constitution had given Kenya a chance to establish credible institutions to deal with all forms of present and past injustices.“I am fully aware of the challenges and opportunities that we face in decisively dealing with the post-election crisis that we faced in 2008,” said Kibaki.“Our new Constitution has given us the necessary framework to create credible institutions that can serve our needs and deal with past injustices,” he said. Kibaki did not however dwell on the specific date of the next elections.
Questions have been raised on whether the elections should be held in August, the month the constitution has fixed for all General Elections, or should the Tenth Parliament complete its terms as the Transitional Clauses of the Constitution say — so that the elections are held in December.
Some officials from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) and the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) have argued the elections should be conducted in December but the Commission on Implementation of Constitution (CIC) has maintained August 14, 2012 is the election date.
In his address, Kibaki said the next general elections will be more demanding due to the large number of offices to be contested for. He urged legislators to focus on implementing crucial bills touching on the implementation of the new constitution.
Kibaki called on MPs to pass within three months the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Bill and the Elections Bill.“The Elections Bill provides for the settlement of electoral disputes arising from nominations, the conduct and supervision of elections and the development of a modern system of collection, collation, transmission and tallying of electoral data. These two Bills will safeguard free and fair elections and entrench our democratic system of governance,” he said.
The December 27, 2007 presidential elections, which President Kibaki controversially won, were marred by irregularities mainly touching on tallying of votes.
Kibaki further urged MPs to debate and pass all bills which according to the transitional clauses were to be enacted within the first year after promulgation of the new constitution on August 27, 2010.
He said the government will systematically implement the new constitution saying bills on judicial reforms will be accorded high priority. The President said the government will prioritize bills to create the Supreme Court and other superior courts with the status of High Court.
Kibaki said the government will be introducing bills to reform the police. These include National Security Council Bill, Police Service Commission Bill, National Police Service Bill, Independent Police Oversight Authority Bill and the Private Security Providers Bill.