An activist has moved to court seeking to have the electoral body directed to conduct a by-election for Banissa Member of Parliament within 30 days.
The seat became vacant following the untimely demise of Kulow Maalim Hassan on March 29 this year.
He passed away after a hit-and-run accident in Nairobi. Three weeks later, the Speaker of the National Assembly notified the public regarding its vacancy.
Article 101 of the Constitution, provides that a by-election ought to have been held within ninety (90) days of the occurrence of the vacancy in the said office.
But Brian Mbugua through Lawyer Adrian Kamotho says the said by-election has not been held up-to-date because 'there exists a void in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The commission lacks a chairperson as well as commissioners.
President William Ruto appointed a Selection Panel for the Recruitment of Nominees for Appointment as the Chairperson and Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in February this year.
But the panel has yet to submit the names of qualified people.
“More than six months after appointment, the Selection Panel has gone silent and is yet to submit the names of persons qualified to be appointed as chairperson and members of the IEBC to the President, for onward transmission to Parliament,” says Mbugua.
As a result, Mbugua wants the court to issue an order directing the selection panel to within 14 days submit to the President, the names of two persons qualified to be appointed as chairperson, and nine persons qualified to be appointed as members of the IEBC for transmission to the National Assembly.
Mbugua argues failure by the IEBC, National Assembly, and the Attorney General to carry out the by-election within the mandated timelines, the people of Banissa Constituency have been deprived of, a person of their choice to represent their interests in the national assembly.
“Unless this Court intervenes, I am apprehensive that in the absence of a representative in the national assembly, the voices and challenges of Banissa constituents will not be articulated and the historical political and economic challenges facing the people of Banissa Constituency shall remain unaddressed.”
