Judges appointed to hear election date case
By Judy Ogutu
Three Court of Appeal Judges will next week hear a case touching on the date for the next General Election.
Appellate Judges Samuel Bosire, Martha Koome and Hannah Okwengu are set to hear the matter on April 3 and 4.
Presiding Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Riaga Omollo said Tuesday that owing to the urgency of the matter and the interest the matter has generated the case will be heard during the court Easter Vacation.
In the case, lobby groups have moved to the Court of Appeal challenging a High Court decision on the election date.
READ MORE
State to shut down 25 entities, privatise others in new reforms
Why Kenya must move fast to invest in digital rights security
State, workers' pay tensions cloud function
Why the super-rich are ditching commercial property investments
S Sudan Central Bank Governor Rallies East Africans to Invest in Juba
Co-op Bank lines up billions for women-owned SMEs after German loan deal
Construction players protest state's bid to tax mining sector
Insurance sector players to explore use of AI in deepening uptake
Sugarcane farmers accuse AFA of 'siding with cartels' as prices drop
Growing demand for housing births modern mansions in Nakuru slums
They believe the High Court Judges Isaac Lenaola, David Majanja and Mumbi Ngugi erred in law and failed to do their calculations well.
The judges had ruled that the term of the current Parliament expires on January 14 next year. According to the High Court decision, the election could be held within 60 days after dissolution of Parliament.
The current Parliament first sat on January 15, 2008 and its term will expire on January 14 next year. The elections can thereafter be held within 60 days after dissolution of Parliament.
The lobby groups say the ruling by the High Court amounts to handing "secret ammunition" to Kibaki and Raila as it gives them opportunity to decide the next election date.
This, they argue, goes against the sole purpose of the provision in the constitution in relation to the election date.
They have faulted the High Court ruling saying the judges erred in law by arriving at the two options for election date.
In their view, the possible date for the next general election is October 14, 2012 or August 14, adding that the court should have given a definite date during the ruling.
It is also the group’s contention that the three judges failed to give meaning of the ‘fifth year’ in Article 101 of the constitution and instead referred to the former constitution to determine the date of expiry of the 10th Parliament.
Led by activist Ann Njogu, the groups contend that the judges failed to give Kenyans a certain answer that would guide them regarding the date of the first election under the new constitution.
In their decision the three judges had said that to determine the date of the first election under the constitution, reference has to be made to sections 9 and 10 of the sixth schedule.
The groups want the Court of Appeal to stop the implementation of the High Court ruling and give a certain date for the election.
- State to shut down 25 entities, privatise others in new reforms
- Sugarcane farmers accuse AFA of 'siding with cartels' as prices drop
- Forget miraa: Discovery of minerals stirs up Meru locals
- Hiring civil servants on contract will fuel corruption, experts say
- Kenyan retailers ready to pounce as Ethiopia to open up market