•IEBC sought to amend the law for party and independent candidates to be cleared the same day.
•MPs advise IEBC to seek amendment at the rise of the next Parliament.
Image: Twitter, IEBC.
MPs have rejected a bid by the electoral agency to bar party nomination losers from running as independents in the August election.
The IEBC had proposed an amendment to the Elections Act, 2011, to stop an aspirant from participating in the nominations of a political party and thereafter contest as an independent candidate.
The polls agency sought to do this by amending electoral timelines so that political party membership list is submitted the same day independent candidates present themselves for clearance.
This means nomination losers would have limited time to defect from the parties after losing.
The Wafula Chebukati-led electoral agency proposed that the deadline for submission of party lists to be 90 days to the election day instead of the 120 days existing in the law.
“The 120 days appears before parties conduct nominations. The 90 days we are seeking means any person who participates in the nominations cannot move to another political party,” the commission said in its submission to MPs.
“The way you deny a person from hopping from party A to B, is the same way you should deny a candidate from hopping from a party to independent,” IEBC legal affairs director Chrispine Owiye said in a meeting on March 15.
But the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly has dismissed the push, saying it cannot apply in the forthcoming election.
The committee, chaired by Kangema MP Muturi Kigano, argued that political parties are still young and may not have fully developed their dispute resolution organs.
“It would only be fair to have an aggrieved party still contest in the election as an independent candidate,” JLAC said in a report on the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 tabled in Parliament.
The committee also noted that the election cycle is already underway and parties were required to have submitted their membership list by March 26. The date has already passed.
“As such, this amendment is tantamount to changing the rule of the game midway and would be unfair to potential candidates,” the committee said.
The committee, however, said that since the law prohibits a person from hopping from one party to another, it would be fair to also stop a person from moving from a party to contest as an independent.
MPs thus advised that the IEBC should consider reintroducing the proposal in the next Parliament for timely execution.
“The IEBC should consider bringing this proposal at the commencement of the next term of Parliament for the country to be well aware of the requirements early in the process,” JLAC said.
Presently, the Political Parties Act gives nomination losers 14 days to resign from their parties to contest the election as independents.
MPs earlier argued that hygiene in politics cannot be legislated per se but is a question of one’s fidelity to their political parties.
With the major political parties conducting their nominations, it is expected that a number of losers who feel disgruntled or dissatisfied with the outcomes would defect to vie as independents.
This has been witnessed in counties with fierce battles where candidates have opted for independent tickets.
In Homa Bay, former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has declared he will vie as an independent candidate after ODM handed a direct ticket to Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga.
(Edited by Francis Wadegu)