IEBC lacks legal authority to conduct secession referendum

Wafula Chebukati (Photo: Courtesy)

Acting at the behest of the NASA coalition, Homa Bay Member of Parliament Peter Kaluma has submitted a Bill that proposes hiving off 40 of the 47 counties to form the so-called People’s Republic of Kenya. Curiously, and without reflecting on the full import of the Bill, IEBC has signalled readiness to carry out a referendum on the Bill if conditions under article 255-257 are complied with.

Since the end of World War II, the international legal order has been structured around two central tenets: the notion of equal sovereignty of states and territorial preservation of existing boundaries. The norm calling for the perpetuation of the territorial status quo was the guiding principle during decolonisation, when states inherited and retained colonial borders under a legal principle known as uti possidetis.