President William Ruto on Wednesday named the remaining nominees to his new broad-based government.
Ruto has so far nominated 21 out of 23 individuals to head respective dockets in his government.
Out of the 21 nominated individuals, Opiyo Wandayi MP for Ugunja Constituency in Siaya county, stands out.
The question many may be asking is what happens next if an elected MP is appointed to Cabinet Secretary (CS) status.
In this scenario, constitutional provisions and potential implications come into play.
According to Section 13, Article VI of the Constitution, MPs cannot hold other government offices during their term without forfeiting their seat.
If an elected MP becomes a CS, they must resign from their parliamentary seat.
The constitution mandates the Speaker to issue in writing a declaration of a vacancy in a constituency within 21 days of the occurrence of a vacancy by giving a notice to IEBC.
The IEBC is then mandated to conduct a by-election that must be held to fill the vacant seat within 90 days.
Another individual also key to stand out is nominated MP John Mbadi.
IEBC provides that if a nominated MP leaves office, the party to which the MP belonged must then write to the IEBC notifying them of the vacancy.
The IEBC is then mandated to pick from their existing list of nominees the next in number to occupy the seat.
In contrast, currently, there lacks an active electoral commission to carry out these processes but Ruto signed into law the IEBC (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The new law will put the country’s electoral management system in place, including paving way for the appointment of new IEBC commissioners.
