A group of MPs led by the chairman of the parliamentary constitutional oversight committee, Jeremiah Kioni, is proposing that the August 2022 election should be postponed.
Their argument is that a postponement will allow for implementation of the BBI proposals for a Prime Minister and for a review of constituency boundaries.
But rules are rules. The 2010 Constitution only allows the election to be postponed for six months in case of an emergency or state of war.
Kenya is not facing an emergency. There is over a year before the election and there is plenty of time to make the necessary arrangements.
The existing 290 constituencies were constitutional in 2013 and 2017 and they will remain constitutional until at least 2024.
The extra executive posts recommended by the BBI, such as the Prime Minister, can be created through executive appointment, as in 2008, without amending the constitution or postponing the election.
Postponing the election will distort the electoral time cycle and set a dangerous precedent where future governments can delay elections at will and tinker with the Constitution. We do not want to go there. The idea of delaying the election should be scrapped.
Quote of the day: "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!"
Robert Burns
The Scottish poet died on July 21, 1796
