MPs debate Bill to change poll date
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi. The National Assembly is on Wednesday scheduled to start debate on a Bill proposing to change the date of the General Elections from August to December. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The MPs are debating the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill.
- If it is passed, Mr Ochieng’s Bill would become the first amendment to the Constitution adopted in August 2010.
The National Assembly is debating a Bill that proposes to change the date of the General Elections from August to December.
Lawmakers argue that the August election date will affect the budget-making process and the national examinations calendar.
Ugenya MP David Ochieng' has proposed an amendment to Constitution to change the date of elections from the second Tuesday of August to the third Monday of December.
If it is passed, the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill would become the first amendment to the Constitution adopted in August 2010.
Mr Ochieng’s Bill was taken over by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, on which he sits, and will require the support of at least two-thirds of each of the Houses as it goes through each stage in Parliament.
“It had been decided long before that the best date for elections is December,” Mr Ochieng' said at a meeting of the House leadership in Mombasa earlier in the year.
