Chief Justice David Maraga’s new bid to speed up all election disputes

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and Chief Justice David Maraga during the opening of the Seventh National Assembly Leadership Homestretch Retreat. [Photo: Gideon Maundu/Standard]

Chief Justice David Maraga is seeking amendments to the Political Parties Act to ensure disputes arising from political party primaries are resolved within the set timelines.

Under the proposals forwarded to Parliament, the Judicial Service Commission (PSC) will appoint temporary members to the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal to deal with disputes. The CJ is seeking additional membership to ensure all complaints are expedited before parties forward names of their candidates to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

“In some areas, there is going to be fierce competition for seats. In some places, holding nominations is like conducting the General Election, and we are anticipating an avalanche of nomination petitions. That is why we want temporary members who will sit all over the country to deal with these issues,” the CJ said in Mombasa at the Parliamentary Leadership Retreat.

Political parties will hold their nominations between April 13 and 26 and are supposed to submit the names of their candidates to IEBC by June 24. The Political Parties Dispute Tribunal has only 18 days to deal with party primary complaints.

The CJ observed that the period given for settlement of disputes is very short and may not be adequate to deal with the high number of anticipated suits.

“We had a workshop where we calculated that the tribunal will have 18 days to determine all those disputes. This period is not sufficient to thrash out all emerging issues form the primaries,” he said. The disputes panel currently has five members, and Maraga is due to appoint two more members to make it fully constituted as required by law.

The judiciary also wants election appeals arising from the August 8 General Election to terminate at the High Court for MCAs, and those for Members of Parliament, governors and others at the Court of Appeal.

This will ensure that petitions do not overburden elected leaders and distract them from their mandate.

National Assembly Speaker, Justin Muturi confirmed that he had received the proposals and directed the National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to expedite the processing of the draft bills before they are introduced in the House.

“In many places, nominations will be a matter of life and death and I am appealing to the Justice and Legal Affairs committee to look at these proposals,” Mr Muturi said.