It would be wrong to alter election date

Parliament resumes its sittings tomorrow after a two-month recess. Speaker Justin Muturi has indicated among other issues, debate on the election date might be reopened.

Should this be the case, it will come in the wake of earlier attempts to extend Parliament's life through a motion sponsored by Ugenya Member of Parliament David Ochieng through the Constitution of Kenya (amendment) Bill 2015. The bill sought to have the election date moved from August 2017 to December 2017.

In December 2015, Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Issack Hassan put the record straight when he declared that the next General Election will be held on Tuesday August 8, 2017.

Any attempts to move the election date will therefore go counter to the Constitution and a Supreme Court advisory opinion on the same.

Although concerns have been raised on the suitability of the election date, which many legislators argue will not only interfere with the school calendar, but with the budget-making process as well, there are ways of going around the issue without necessarily altering the constitutionally determined election date.

Notably, MPs have also argued that August elections will deny them a full five-year term as envisioned by the Constitution.

Parliament should tread with caution where matters of elections are concerned, especially at this time when tensions have been heightened following allegations that some members of the Supreme Court were compromised in the 2013 electoral dispute resolution mechanism.

Since both the Government and Opposition have accused each other of intending to rig the 2017 elections, they should not be given reason to believe that they were right.

It would be prudent and good for the country for MPs to choose a less confrontational path by changing the dates when deliberations on the budget proposals by the National Treasury will take place so that the same are concluded before Parliament is prorogued in anticipation of the three months-long election campaigns.