Deadline for exit of poll chiefs in doubt
What you need to know:
- Attorney-General Githu Muigai on Tuesday said the government was waiting for the Treasury to clarify the issue of funds before negotiations for an exit package can start.
- The commissioners must formally send a request to resign to the President before their positions can be declared vacant, but they are reluctant to do so until their exit package is agreed upon.
- There are fears that a September 30 deadline set by MPs for the commissioners to go home could be missed.
- The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2016 passed by the National Assembly and Senate says the removal of the commissioners can only begin after President Kenyatta assents to it.
The embattled electoral commissioners could remain in office beyond this month due to a delay in effecting the required legal mechanisms.
Attorney-General Githu Muigai on Tuesday said the government was waiting for the Treasury to clarify the issue of funds before negotiations for an exit package can start.
“We hope to initiate the process within the week, but we have to wait for the legislation to be finalised and then for the Treasury to give a way forward,” Prof Muigai said.
The commissioners must formally send a request to resign to the President before their positions can be declared vacant, but they are reluctant to do so until their exit package is agreed upon.
“It is becoming difficult for us to move forward without clear exit terms. The laws passed by Parliament have so many loopholes,” said one Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official, who cannot be named due to the tension the matter has generated in the recent past.
There are fears that a September 30 deadline set by MPs for the commissioners to go home could be missed.
“It is difficult to comment on the deadline since I was a member of that committee. Let’s hope for the best,” said Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2016 passed by the National Assembly and Senate says the removal of the commissioners can only begin after President Kenyatta assents to it.
The President has 14 days to assent to the Bill or reject it once it is presented to him by the speakers of the National Assembly and Senate, Mr Justin Muturi and Mr Ekwe Ethuro, respectively.
PRESIDENT IN SOMALIA
As of last night, it was not clear whether they had done so, but it seemed unlikely, given that both Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ethuro were heavily involved in the Jubilee Party launch and that Monday was a holiday.
The President was in Somalia on Tuesday for an Igad Heads of State meeting.
But assuming the Bill was presented on Thursday evening immediately after the Senate passed it, the President will have up to September 22 to act on it even though he could fast-track it and assent to it within seven days, this is September 15.
The new law would then have to be gazetted within seven days and assuming this was done in a record one day, that would be on September 16.
It is only within 14 days from gazetting that the new law becomes operational.
If this, too, was fast-tracked to only three days, the law could take effect on September 19, paving the way for the commissioners to resign.
According to Section 33 clause 7A (1), the office of the chairperson or commissioners can only fall vacant if the holder dies, resigns from office by notice in writing to the President or is removed from office under provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution.
