Relief for presidential candidates after High Court overrules IEBC

Presidential candidates will not be required to comply with some rules set by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in order to vie in the August 8 General Election.

This is after Judge George Odunga barred the IEBC from rejecting nomination signatures lists of 2,000 supporters unless submitted in excel sheets format.

Justice Odunga further nullified sections of the Elections Act and requirements by the commission to the candidates that wants the 2,000 signatures of supporters by independent candidates be free from any political party affiliation.

According to the Judge, the requirement is unconstitutional. The judge, however, declined to issue a blanket order directing IEBC to acknowledge receipt and accept the submitted signatures of the persons who have nominated petitioner Peter Solomon Gichira.

Also nullified is a section of the Elections Act that requires the persons who nominate an independent presidential candidate shall not be members of any political party.

Similarly the judge set aside Section 29(1) of the Elections Act that requires the persons who nominate a presidential candidate be members of the candidate’s political Party saying it contravenes the Constitution.

The judge, in his findings, declared that IEBC went overboard and purported to unlawfully and unjustifiably restrict or limit the rights of the Presidential candidates under the Constitution.

“I find that the said requirement does not meet the fairness and reasonability test as provided for under the Constitution,” he ruled.

Source: Citizen Digital