Reports that there are five cases touching on preparations for next year’s General Election still pending in court only seven months to the polls should be a concern not just to the Judiciary but to all Kenyans.
History has taught us that Kenya’s elections are emotive and fraught with manipulation, and hence the need for confidence-building and pulling all stops to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
One of the cases touches on whether public officers must resign six months to the General Election, in this case February 9, 2022, just a month away today. That leaves little time to conclude the case and give room for an appeal.
It is interesting that just a few months to the elections, a case is challenging Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati’s mandate to manage the polls. This is akin to challenging the competence of a referee just a few minutes to the start of a football match. We need to ask ourselves; should the courts rule that Mr Chebukati cannot oversee the elections, what will happen next?
With these questions and many others in mind, it behoves the Judiciary to expedite these cases and pave the way for a General Election that will be satisfactory to all parties involved and Kenyans at large.
The IEBC must also strive to conduct its operations within the law to avoid such cases in the future. It should not be lost on us that one of the five cases before the courts stems from IEBC’s failure to open the server in the 2017 presidential election as had been ordered by the Supreme Court. This led to the nullification of the election, thereby bring to question Chebukati’s competence in conducting fair elections and denting the image of the polls agency.
Other stakeholders, including election aspirants and other political leaders, must also desist from interfering with the election preparations. They should instead give the IEBC ample space, support and resources if they are truly interested in fair polls.
Lastly, all Kenyans must stand to be counted and raise their voices against any effort to derail the polls.
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