Aspirants face June harambee deadline
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan. Photo/FILE
Politicians who directly or indirectly take part in fund-raising from June risk being barred from the next elections if the polls are held on March 4, 2013, as announced by the electoral team.
And, if the General Election date is changed to December this year, the ban on politicians’ participation in harambees will take effect this month.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Issack Hassan has said that the Elections Act requires candidates to refrain from fund-raising eight months to the polls.
Those who flout the rule will effectively be barred from taking part in the elections.
Public officers who intend to contest in the next election will also have to quit their jobs by July if the polls are to be held next year or by next month if the polls are to be held this year.
The law also requires public officers intending to contest in the elections to resign from office at least seven months before the polls, and that independent candidates should not be members of any political party at least three months before the polls.
These are some of the issues that the IEBC has to ensure are done before the General Election can be held.
The IEBC timetable has also revealed that political parties compliance with the two present a key challenge to the planning of the elections.
The electoral body estimates that parties need at least seven and a half months from end of April to comply with the Political Parties Act and the Elections Act before elections can be held.
This pushes the complete compliance with the new laws to mid-December this year— when the IEBC says it can hold the General Election in case March 4, 2013 is rejected.
“Political party nominations should be complete at least 45 days before the election date. In essence the rules must be submitted to the Registrar of Political Parties at least seven and half months before elections,” Mr Hassan said as he announced the election date.
Currently, all the 52 political parties are provisionally registered and cannot take part in an election.
Only five parties have so a far submitted their applications for full registration.
