BY JUDIE KABERIA
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| null     1/1 NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 23 - The Civil Society is raising concern that Kenya may be unprepared to hold general elections in August 2012 as stipulated in the new Constitution. Led by International Centre for Policy and Conflict Executive Director Ndung'u Wainaina, the activists expressed concern that the next election will be complex since voters would be expected to cast ballots for six different elective posts. "We foresee a serious threat to holding peaceful, credible and fair elections and stability of the country next year if confusion is allowed to continue. The elections are going to be cumbersome with voters expected to vote for County Representative, Member of Parliament, Woman Representative, Senator, Governor and President," he said. He said the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) and other key stakeholders to be clear on the date of next year's general election. The CIC has said elections are due in August but the political class argues the term should run until December due to the transitional clauses which say the current parliament should run its full term. The commission has already moved to court to seek legal interpretation on the issue. Mr Wainaina also cited the lack of an elections Act, and enactment of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission as major areas of concern. He was also concerned over the registration of voters and voter education that were both crucial in the election process which he said would delay or be rushed due to the uncertainty of the next election. His sentiments were echoed by National Convention Executive Council Director Cyprian Nyamwamu who also said the civil society had formulated an affidavit to be presented to the electoral commission for all candidates to fill before contesting the next elections. He said the affidavit would check among other things criminal records, corruption charges and foreign accounts held by candidates. He further said candidates will also have to prove their compliance with Kenya Revenue Authority tax remittances. Mr Nyamwamu advised MPs to start paying their taxes as they risked being declared bankrupt or being jailed for failing to comply with the law on taxation. "They are not a special class of citizens. Even watchmen who earn Sh5,000 a month pay tax. We cannot start running this country based on wills, views and feelings. They should immediately go to their banks to see how they will finance their things otherwise none of them will qualify to run in the next general election," he said. Follow the author at https://twitter.com/judiejeez |
Read more: http://capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/NGOs%3A-Kenya-not-ready-for-2012-polls-13326.html#ixzz1Q8TyAW1H
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