Raila Odinga's allies kill MPs' bid to alter election date

A cocktail of political interests conspired to defeat a legislative bid to alter the election date and give MPs an extra five months in office.

The Opposition leadership in the National Assembly abandoned ODM member David Ochieng (Ugenya) and voted against the bill to amend the Constitution to move the General Election from the second Tuesday of August in every fifth year to the third Monday of December in every fifth year.

Leader of Minority Francis Nyenze (Kitui West). He led the Opposition brigade in shooting down the bill. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Even though 216 MPs had voted to get the extra five months in office and shift the election date, the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill failed to go to the next stage because it needed a two-thirds majority – 233 MPs. Only 24 MPs had rejected the bid to change the date while six MPs abstained from the vote.

Leader of Minority Francis Nyenze (Kitui West) led the Opposition brigade in shooting down the bill that ODM party leader Raila Odinga had said should be defeated because it was only going to extend Jubilee’s stay in power.

Key Raila confidants, including his brother Oburu Oginga (Nominated), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), Tom Joseph Kajwang’ (Ruaraka), Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda) and Ford Kenya’s Eseli Simiyu (Tongaren) voted against the motion. That decision to deny the requisite numbers spelled doom for the move to alter the date.

Such was their excitement after the motion flopped that Mr Kajwang’ clapped and cheered loudly to the extent that Speaker Justin Muturi reminded him that MPs do not clap in the House.

“Even though the Motion has gotten 216 votes, it has failed to reach the constitutional threshold of 233 MPs. It is therefore negatived (lost),” said the Speaker.

In a rare twist, Majority Leader Aden Duale (Garissa Township) voted for the bill, even though he had previously opposed it and said that he was only going to support it on condition that the Opposition backed the extension of the term of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which expires in November 2017 – just a month to the proposed new poll date.

Mr Duale appears to have seen that CORD wanted to deny the sponsor the numbers and therefore he sided with his troops, majority of whom voted with some of their Opposition colleagues to approve the bill.