Diplomats seek to unlock stalemate on electoral law ahead of fresh poll
Committees of the Senate and National Assembly on the elections law amendments at County Hall in Nairobi on October 5, 2017. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NMG
Church groups have also warned of confusion if the laws are changed too close to the presidential election date.
Question remains as to whether the repeat October 26 elections can be held under different laws from those used in the August 8 General Election.
Kenya’s ruling Jubilee party continues to push for amendments to the election laws before the fresh president election scheduled for October 26, but the opposition is strongly against the changes.
The Jubilee-dominated parliament is expected to pass the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017, when it resumes on October 11, despite resistance from the National Super Alliance (Nasa).
While the Joint Select Committee of National Assembly and Senate members carried out three days of public hearings on the amendment, Nasa MPs have boycotted participating in the committee and have refused to present their views on the amendments.
Various church groups and Western diplomats have warned of more confusion if the election laws are changed this close to the presidential election. The question remains as to whether the repeat October 26 elections can be held under different laws from those used in the August 8 General Election.
This past week Western diplomats led by US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec said that the amendments are ill-timed and asked the Jubilee party to drop the changes, saying their enactment would cripple efforts to conduct a free, fair and credible poll within the time allocated.
Nairobi lawyer Okello Opollo said there are strong indications that the Jubilee party wants the amendments to apply immediately.
Source of conflict
Mr Okello said that this will be next source of conflict between Jubilee and Nasa because the opposition will try to ensure that the new rules are not used in the October 26 repeat elections.
Jubilee leader President Uhuru Kenyatta — whose re-election was nullified by the Supreme Court on September 1 — has maintained that the amendments are meant to seal loopholes that caused confusion during the August 8 election.
Meanwhile, Nasa leader Raila Odinga announced that there would be protests two days every week against the new laws and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), whose officials he accuses of having manipulated the elections.
Amendments
Deputy President William Ruto said the amendments to the election laws are meant to comply with the Supreme Court order to hold a fresh election. But Nasa insists that Jubilee is trying to redesign the rules of the game in which they are players.
Key features of the proposed amendments that went through the first reading on September 29 include: “Where there is discrepancy between the electronically transited and manually transmitted results, the manually transmitted results shall prevail.”
When nullifying the results, the Supreme Court had noted that scanned copies of the primary forms 34 (A) were not electronically transmitted with the text results as demanded by the law.
The proposed amendments now say that, “Any failure to transmit or publish the election results in an electronic format shall not invalidate the result as announced and declared by the respective presiding and returning officers at the polling station and constituency tallying centre, respectively.”
