House team approves Bill to move General Elections from August to December

Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Chair Samuel Chepkonga.

Nairobi, Kenya: The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly has approved a Bill to amend the Constitution to move the General Election date from August to December.

The committee said the Bill should be published "forthwith" so that come 2017 when polls are expected, the electoral commission will be prepared for the second Monday of December, and not the second Tuesday of August as is hitherto provided for in the Constitution.

The chairman of the committee, Samuel Chepkonga (Ainabkoi) backed the sponsor of the Bill, David Ochieng' (Ugenya). They said the change in election date was crucial to free Kenyans from the hassles of politics in the middle of the year.

Ochieng', who is a member of the committee, said the December date was important because as currently prescribed, the elections in August will interfere with the budget process, the school calendar, national exams, and even the low voter turnout.

“In August, the people who work at Industrial Area may not get the permission and time to travel to their rural constituencies to vote. Even in Turkana, at around that time, there's usually no pasture, so you will find that the pastoralists have left where they registered to vote,” said Ochieng'.

He added that the mid-term exams and preparation for the national exams in primary and secondary schools will also be affected by the election campaigns as from June if the polls are held in August.

“In case of a run-off election, it might spill over into the national exams,” said the Ugenya MP.

The budgeting process is usually at its peak between April and June. This is also likely to be derailed by the polls.

“If something goes wrong with the budget process (because of election campaigns), it will be difficult for the country to recover,” said Ochieng'.

Chepkonga led MPs in agreeing that the ideal date is on the second week of December so that it does not interfere with the Christmas holidays; and in case of a run-off, it does not majorly affect the school calendar.

The MPs also expressed concern over the length of their term in office, saying they are elected for a five-year term, and thus, the next polls in 2017 will shorten their tenure. It appeared as if they were setting the stage for another legal battle to shift the election date which the High Court already set for the second Tuesday of August as prescribed in the Constitution.

Mwamkale William (Rabai) said the courts should decide on the tenure of lawmakers.

“The election of MPs cannot be held before the lapse of five years. Let's leave that to the courts, let the Judiciary deal with it,” said Chepkonga.

The change to the election date is not new. It was raised in the Tenth Parliament and views were collected. A Bill was published, but it never made it through the august House because of politics.

Ugenya MP said the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution had already given the Bill a clean bill of health. He said the change will not cost the National Treasury more money.