Nyachae wants court to decide election date

The team leading the implementation of the Constitution wants the Supreme Court to decide the date of the next election before MPs amend the law.

The Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC) said that MPs were avoiding the court for political expediency.

The Cabinet wants the election date moved from the second Tuesday of August to the third Monday of December every fifth year of the election cycle.

If Parliament amends the law, the next General Election will be held on December 17, 2012.

“We support the suggested amendment on gender representation, but we are encouraging Kenyans to resist any attempts by Parliament to change the election date to serve largely political and sectarian interests,” said Mr Charles Nyachae, the CIC chairman.

He was speaking at a forum to assess media coverage of the implementation process in Nairobi.

Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo has defended the amendments, saying the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2011 provides a formula for meeting the gender threshold in the Eleventh Parliament.

“The Bill seeks to bring clarity and certainty to the term of the Tenth Parliament while also removing any doubts as to the date of the next General Election,” he argues.

The National Council of Churches (NCCK) has opposed plans to amend the Constitution.

The council, which last year rallied its members against the document, asked President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to resign if they could not implement it.

It challenged the government to explain “its change of heart” having indicated the Constitution would not require key amendments.

“Do not amend the Constitution you told Kenyans was good and the little that was offensive was negligible. Why the change of heart?” asked NCCK general-secretary Peter Karanja.

“If you cannot implement the Constitution that Kenyans passed, do the honourable thing and resign so that Kenyans can elect a new government,” he said recently.