The Wednesday by all political parties to sign the Code of Conduct prepared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for the 12th General Election should be speedily resolved.
At a meeting with the IEBC at a Nairobi hotel, party representatives pointed out inconsistencies with the Code contained in Schedule Two of the Elections Laws Act.
In particular, they took issue with a clause in the Code that specifies the person signing the document will be held responsible in case a member or party engages in electoral malpractices, including violence.
But IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati stood his ground, saying sternly, “The commission has timelines which we must meet. If you find that what we have presented to you is different, go and extract what is on Schedule Two of the Election Laws and bring it to us by tomorrow [today]”.
The IEBC is right – there is no more time to waste.
Usually, the Code is signed for purely symbolic purposes. What is so dramatically different this time?
