Delays in signing a Bill crucial to actualising the much awaited reforms in our electoral laws and the composition of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission bodes ill for the country.
The setting up of the Joint Select Parliamentary Committee in June was great relief after weeks of street protests that at times turned bloody.
The time left between now and the August 2017 date is too small, yet there are a lot of key milestones to be achieved before then. Needless to say, the new team needs adequate time to plan adequately for the elections. While much rides on the experience of the IEBC Secretariat, IEBC commissioners must be in office in good time to learn the ropes.
The current commissioners were scheduled to leave office in two weeks time. That now looks highly unlikely. The reasons being advanced, besides the delay in presidential assent to the Electoral Laws (Amendment) Bill, is that the Treasury is yet to allocate finds to take care of the severance packages for the Ahmed Issack Hassan-led team. This contention may not hold water because such considerations should have been factored in in good time given the sensitivity of the issue at hand.
Attorney General Githu Muigai, apart from having petitioned Parliament to consider postponing the elections, has also said the current commissioners have not submitted their resignations to President Uhuru Kenyatta. There are now calls for a repeat of the weekly siege at Anniversary Towers. That must be avoided at all costs. There is simply no time to waste on needless sideshows and politicking.
President Kenyatta would do well to sign the Bill into law to allow the new reforms take effect immediately. It is in the interest of the country that all structures and processes necessary to deliver free and fair elections are set up before August 2017.
