Fresh doubts over election date

Fresh doubts over when Kenyans will vote have emerged with reports that some MPs and ministers are quietly pushing for an August 2013 date.

The revelation came as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which is racing against time to prepare for the polls, said it would use the current electronic registration kits if the tender which they are yet to award delays.

“Once we have awarded the tender we can be able to manipulate and use the software and configure our current equipment and they can be deployed to the 1,450 wards so that we have at least one equipment per ward.

That is now the worst case scenario because we are hoping to get the equipment on time,” commission chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan said.

The proponents of the August date argue that the IEBC was not ready to hold the elections on March 4, 2013 given the delay in awarding the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) tender and the mapping of 80 new constituencies.

MPs pushing for the August 2013 date, who talked to the Nation, but refused to be quoted said the move enjoyed the backing of a section of the executive.

The commission has to merge, move and rename hundreds of wards and locations as directed by the five-judge bench ruling two weeks ago.

Initially fixed in the Constitution to be held next month, the Cabinet initiated a move to stage the elections on December 17 this year but was overtaken by a High Court ruling which pointed to March 4, 2013 as the likely date.

Voter registration

During the polls, the first since the passage of the Constitution, voters will elect the President, senators, county governors, MPs, county representatives and women’s representatives.

According to the IEBC timetable, voter registration should start next month followed by the compilation of the register in September.

Voters were scheduled to inspect the register in October with the final register’s roll being finalised in November.

Tenders for election materials, including ballot papers and boxes which were supposed to have been bought between last month and December, have been advertised.

“We have not bought ballot boxes but we have put up some tenders. When the court ruling pushed the elections day to next year, the Treasury said some ballot boxes and papers can be bought in the next financial year,” said Mr Hassan.

However, on Monday a group of MPs interviewed vowed to block the move which means the current Parliament will extend its term beyond January 13, 2013.

It also means President Kibaki may stay in office until December 2013, if the voting goes to a second round.

“If the elections are pushed to August next year, the whole country can rebel and people block MPs from accessing Parliament. That is a weird idea,” Education assistant minister Ayiecho Olweny said.

Garsen MP Danson Mungatana warned against shifting the election date saying it would be tantamount to playing with Kenyans’ minds.

“It was disappointing for many of us when we realised the election will not be in August and when hopes of a December poll faded. We don’t want the goal post to be changed again,” he said.

Kisumu Town West MP Shakeel Shabir accused part of the executive of not wanting to implement devolution before the elections.

“The way things are going the executive does not want devolution to start. The office of the President does not want the laws to be in place by August 27. We have no hope of getting devolution on the ground by December,” he said.

He suggested that if devolution was delayed, the country should hold the elections of MPs and the President and that county representatives and governors be done later.

Mvita MP Najib Balala said reports of plans to further push the election date were based on rumours by a group “that wants to create confusion” ahead of the elections and discredit Parliament.

“These are forces from outside Parliament. MPs in the 10th Parliament are more sober and broad minded in terms of the reality of the Constitution as well as the interests of Kenyans,” he said.

Gwassi MP John Mbadi, who forgot that the Transitional Clauses provided for the President and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to remain in office until the first elections under the Constitution, said pushing the date forward would mean extending the term of President Kibaki which would require a referendum.

“They cannot succeed whoever they are and whatever reasons they have. The Constitution is very clear and they cannot get the parliamentary threshold for amending the Constitution to provide for this,” he said.

Government chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo (ODM) dismissed the reports as a stupid idea. “Anyone who could try to conceive something like that is someone who has failed to read the mood of the country,” he said.

He said no MP would take a risk of supporting such a move. “Even those MPs who might wish to extend their term in Parliament, no one would dare have the courage to extend because they fear the repercussions from the electorate,” he said.

Mr Mbadi said on Monday that a fair judgment by the High Court should put the election date to December.

“These are idle rumours,” he said about the August 2013 plot saying no patriotic Kenyan would support it. “If anyone is entertaining it then it is going nowhere,” he said.

Government chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo (ODM) dismissed the reports as a stupid idea. “Anyone who could try to conceive something like that is someone who has failed to read the mood of the country,” he said.

He said ODM expects the Court to settle on a December date and not even in March. “It is the most reasonable thing to do and that is what Kenyans want,” he stated.

The Gem MP said it would be selfish for any politician to seek a further postponement of the elections.