A fresh plan has been hatched to delay the general election to 2018.
MPs are eager to extend their terms, salaries and perquisites. They also say the country is far from prepared. They cite delayed appointment of electoral commissioners and numerous issues with timelines, procurement, technology and the voter's register.
This time round, MPs from both Jubilee and Cord are involved, however, it is not clear if they have the blessings of their principals.
Kenya traditionally holds elections every five years.
Although the IEBC has affirmed the general election — presidential, Senate, National Assembly, governor and county assembly polls — will be held on August 8, 2017, some legislators have not abandoned a scheme to push the elections back to 2018.
The MPs argue elected leaders must serve a full five-year term from the time they are sworn in until the House is dissolved.
A previous attempt by MP Ugenya David Ochieng of ODM to amend the Constitution to push elections to December next year failed to get a minimum two-thirds vote. It got 216 votes, 17 less than the required number.
But opposition leader Musalia Mudavadi warned proponents of procrastination that doing so would be disastrous.
"You can see this attempt, which is manifested in court cases among other things, is unacceptable for anyone to imagine they can push elections.
"Anyone entertaining that thought must have sensed defeat long ago,"
According to the latest plan, MPs will introduce a bill seeking delaying the election date to sometime in 2018.
Majority leader Adan Duale yesterday said he was not aware of any bill.
The extension, MPs argue, will allow the IEBC to fully prepare for the polls.
They say because of the delay in picking IEBC commissioners, those selected will need time to understand the situation and prepare for elections.
A panel interviewing prospective commissioners is expected to release the names of nominees by the of this week, and the proposed chairperson
The President then will pick seven commissioners from a short list of nine and pick the chairperson from another two names.
“Look at the where we are now. It's December and the commission is not in place, the secretariat has not been vetted, the voter’s register has not been audited and all the technology required has just been advertised.
It is clear the IEBC will not be ready by August,’’ an MP involved in the plan told the Star, asking not to be named.
The IEBC awarded the tender for the audit of the voter’s roll last Friday but Cord has pledged to block the audit until new commissioners are in place.
The opposition says the Jubilee administration plans to rig the election.
The commission has also advertised for an integrated technology system to register voters, identify them on election day, transmit results from every polling station and manage all candidates.
“We hope to have this technology in place by April and test it before elections,” IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba said.
Those pushing for delay also argue holding elections next August will cut MPs' terms short by four months. Unless the government compensates them for lost earnings, there will be no choice but to extend their terms.
But yesterday, Cord co-principal Moses Wetang'ula said any attempts to amend the Constitution and change the date would be unconstitutional.
“That proposal cannot work because it is unconstitutional. Jubilee which has been entertaining this idea for sometime now but does not have the two-thirds required to pass such amendment,” he said. Wetang'ula is Senate majority leader.
Even if the National Assembly passes it, the Senate will shoot it down, he predicted.
“Extending Jubilee’s term will visit a calamity upon the country,” Wetang'ula said.
In 2012, the Appeals Court extended the term Parliament and ruled the next election be held in August 2017, as provided by the Constitution.
Justice Martha Koome disagreed. She said pushing the elections to March 2013 would unconstitutionally extend the incumbent Parliament and the tenure of President Mwai Kibaki.
MPs pushing the latest plan say since they were elected in March 2013, their terms, and those of President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto, do not end until March 2018.
If they remain in office until March 2018, the country will need 60 days to prepare for elections, pushing the election date to mid-2018.
If they cut short their terms, they deserve pay for eight months they would have given up, they say.
“Given the date of the next General Election, it is now apparent the term of the 11th Parliament will be less than five years. In this regard, the Parliamentary Service Commission ought to explore the possibility of a compensation mechanism in lieu of the shortened term,” the leadership of the House resolved at the end of a retreat in Mombasa in February this year.