The report on Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 will clarify whether NASA leader Raila Odinga will be obliged to participate in the fresh presidential election.
The report by the joint parliamentary committee, which will be tabled in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, will give a way forward on what will happen if Raila boycotts the October 26 poll.
The Opposition leader has threatened non-participation should his demands for reforms at the electoral agency not be implemented.
On Monday, he noted the decision to take part on that date lies squarely with him.
If the amendments sail through as they are and if only one candidate remains at the ballot, this candidate will be declared president-elect.
"Where only one candidate remains after the withdrawal, the remaining candidate shall be declared elected forthwith as the President-elect without any election being held," reads the Bill.
It states that an eligible candidate shall, pursuant to Article 140 (3) withdraw from the poll by notice in writing to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
MPs are expected to debate and either approve or
shoot down the report tabled by the committee co-chaired by William Cheptumo (Baringo North) and Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo).
The Bill highlights several other critical changes to the election laws prior to the fresh election.
Earlier today, the ruling
Jubilee Party dropped a clause that would have allowed non-lawyers to chair the electoral agency.
The select committee on amendments also dropped a clause delegating some of the chairman's powers to the vice chair or other IEBC commissioners.
The Bill had stated that
in case of the chairperson's absence, the vice chair would assume his or her powers and responsibilities accordingly until the appointment of a new official.
It also stated: "In the absence of the chairperson and the vice chairperson, members of the commission shall elect from amongst themselves one of their number to act as the chairperson and exercise the powers and responsibilities of the chairperson until such time that another chairperson shall be appointed”.
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The Bill also seeks to allow manually transmitted results to prevail in case there is a discrepancy in comparison with those transmitted electronically.
It also states any failure to transmit or publish the election results in an electronic format shall not invalidate the results as announced and declared by the respective presiding and returning officers at the polling station and constituency tallying centre.
The Supreme Court, on September 1, nullified the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta's following the August 8 general election.
Last week, the committee received inputs from stakeholders and several individuals regarding the changes.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chairperson Kagwiria Mbogori noted the committee is not bipartisan and that the changes should have made done six months to the election.
"This is not a bipartisan process and history will judge us. I am sure you will handle it with the delicacy it requires," Mbogori said.
"Good practice requires that changes be made to election laws six months to the election. There are only 21 days to the pol."