Kibaki: Kenya will go to polls in 2013

By Standard Reporter

President Kibaki has clarified that the General Election will be held in 2013, hours after apparently suggesting it would be held this year.

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Updated at 1100GMT

President Kibaki has announced that the General Elections will be held this year in what puts to rest the debate on the election date.

The announcement gives the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) green light to plan and announce when the country should elect new leaders.

Pressure has been mounting for the two coalition principals—President Kibaki and Raila Odinga to fix election date.

Early in the year a Constitutional Court ruled that Kenya must go to the polls in March 2013 or alternatively, December 2012 if President Kibaki and the PM agree, in writing, to dissolve the Grand Coalition Government.

The move by the court left everybody speculating over when the election will be held and resulted in tension among citizens, panic among foreign investors and wrangles in the coalition government.

On Thursday US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman joined the elections date debate urging the Kenya leadership to make a decision on the election date.

Ambassador Sherman who arrived in the country on Thursday evening is scheduled to meet with senior government officials in Nairobi to stress US interest in peaceful and transparent elections as well as continued implementation of the constitution.

"The matter on the election date is purely a Kenyan decision to make. They (Kenyans) should remain committed to the constitution to avoid a return to the violence that was witnessed in the last general elections," said the US official when fielding questions from journalists.

The delay in making a decision on the date of election has caused anxiety among Kenyans.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga added to the confusion when he told parliament last month that the decision was ‘too huge’ to be left in the hands of the two principals.