Naivasha MP John Muthuto (Left) with Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni addressing the press at Parliament Buildings on March 21, 2012 where they castigated Prime Minister over remarks he made on polls date. Photo/BILLY MUTAI
By PETER NG’ETICH pngetich@ke.nationmedia.com and LILIAN ONYANGO lonyango@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, March 21 2012 at 22:30
Posted Wednesday, March 21 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
Parliament can align the calendar of the House to the new law, including the date for the General Election, says PM
Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Wednesday faulted the notion to have him and President Kibaki decide the election date.
Mr Odinga said the prerogative should have been vested in MPs to set the calendar of the House according to the new Constitution.
While denying that he rebuked the Judiciary after failing to give a definite date for the coming General Election, the PM said judges did not give a proper direction on the polls.
He said it has been the tradition of the country to hold the polls in December, a factor the judges did not consider.
“The elections of 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007 have been held in December, which should have given the three judges direction,” the PM said in his Nairobi office after hosting students from US Massachusetts Institute of Technology who are on a tour of the country.
Mr Odinga at the weekend dismissed the ruling after the electoral team set March 4, 2013 as the election date, saying the commission was interpreting a decision by a “korti bandia” (a fake court).
The remarks saw Chief Justice Willy Mutunga telling Mr Odinga to keep off the Judiciary and respect court rulings.
Mr Odinga declined to answer questions relating threats issued against the Independent Electoral Boundary Commission officials over the March 4, 2013 date.
On Saturday, IEBC chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan was caught on camera telling fellow commissioners that the PM had warned him that he would fight their decision on the election date.
Elsewhere, a section of MPs on Wednesday asked the PM to apologise to IEBC and assure Kenyans that he will not interfere with the General Election.
MPs John Mututho, Jeremiah Kioni, Abdi Noor and Chachu Ganya, accused Mr Odinga of showing disregard to the commission.
Mr Mututho (Naivasha) asked Mr Odinga to respect and have faith in the IEBC or give up vying for any seat.
Mr Kioni (Ndaragwa) said before the 2007 elections, Mr Odinga had also discredited the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya.
“That is why it is important that he desists from that trend because it is not useful,” he said, warning that the trend was detrimental to polls.
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