MPs plan to change election law

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The chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee Abdikadir Mohammed. Photo  Nation Media Group

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, September 4  2012 at  23:37

IN SUMMARY

• The legislators have approved changes to the law for two more months to approve the rules.
• The law prescribed that the rules have to be in place six months before elections, which expired on Tuesday.
• They also want voter registration to close on January 4, next year — 60 days to the elections and not 90 as prescribed in the law currently.

MPs have proposed two key changes to the Election Act to get more time to agree on the rules ahead of the next polls.

Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) chairman Abdikadir Mohammed said the House teams which were working on the election regulations wanted more time to scrutinise the rules and get public input.

The legislators have approved changes to the law for two more months to approve the rules. The law prescribed that the rules have to be in place six months before elections, which expired on Tuesday.

They also want voter registration to close on January 4, next year — 60 days to the elections and not 90 as prescribed in the law currently.

Kenyans go to the polls on March 4 next year. “Both amendments are not controversial, are absolutely necessary and will need to be approved so that we move forward,” said Mr Mohammed at a news conference in Parliament Buildings on Tuesday.

The agreement, he said, was arrived at after an informal meeting called by the House Speaker to chart the way forward regarding the matter. The meeting was held on Tuesday at Parliament’s Old Chamber.

The rules pending before the CIOC, the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and the Committee on Delegated Legislation have to do with the registration of voters, diaspora voting, voter education and general rules on the elections. (READ: MPs fault IEBC over elections rules)

Impossible feat

“It’s not possible to finish the four documents, do justice to them and approve them this afternoon.

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"We need time to extend the approval period. It will allow MPs and Parliament to do a thorough job,” Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa told journalists at the same briefing.

The two said the rules were tabled just last week, yet as per the Elections Act, they should have been approved by Parliament by Tuesday.

“We’re going to amend the Elections Act, and the proposals for amendments to reduce the time required from six months to four months so that election regulations are approved four months to elections,” said Mr Mohammed.

The CIOC chairman said some leaders argued that the deadline was Monday and therefore Parliament was time-barred. Others wanted the deadline moved so that the “political players, MPs, the public, and diaspora are all aware of the rules of the game”, he said.

“We’re already in the last day, and we don’t want this process to be caught in legal interpretations. So the amendment has been agreed upon, discussed and sent to the Government Printer,” said Mr Mohammed.

Mr Wamalwa has assured Kenyans that the move “is not a conspiracy or an intention to interfere with the elections date”.

He said the extension of the publication deadline of the regulations would allow public input and a critical look into the law by Parliament.

He cited the nomination fees for all the elective seats, saying the proposals had caused a public outcry with people with disabilities, women and youth petitioning him on the same.

The minister gave the assurance following a request by Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale.