Election Laws: Will Senate Decision Lead to A Better Electoral System in Kenya?

The citizens of Kenya by a popular Referendum in 2010 enacted a new Constitution that embodies their hopes, promises and their vision of the future.  A departure from the first forty-seven years of independence that had failed to deliver the Promises and dreams of independence to the majority of its citizens.

Subsequently, the principle of free and fair elections is legally enshrined in the constitution and provided for in the Elections Act and the Political Parties Act. This is besides being a treaty to many international and regional treaties that contain standards on the conduct of democratic elections.

Elections are the core of how we govern ourselves.

However, the Independent Review Commission (IREC) – the Kriegler Commission findings on the 2007 general elections pointed out that the electoral system was not founded on the principle of equal votes.

According to the commission, elections were won or lost by a simple majority regardless of the number of registered voters in a constituency that cast their ballots. The system reinforced ethnicity by privileging the mobilisation of communities with an emphasis on the need to access and control state power for the benefit of those elites that win presidency. This is according to Ka review by AfriMAP, Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa and the Institute for Development Studies of University of Nairobi on Kenya Democracy and Political Participation.

Since the 2013 General Elections, Kenya is yet to learn that elections is a process.

“Kenya approaches elections like an event, not a process. Polling is an event. Elections is a process,” according Willis Otieno, a Kenyan Lawyer.

The forthcoming August, 8 General Elections will mark the its 12th cycle of elections in Kenya since independence.

Most citizens are unable to understand and own the purpose of elections.

Several things have taken place.

One, Kenya has a new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

CJ David Maraga has already focused his attention to the elections.

“Elections and Election Dispute resolution is a key priority for me,” he said during his swearing in speech.

However, he urged other players to play their part in ensuring that the elections are undertaken in accordance with the set constitutional standards.

Two, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nominees for the Independent, Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chair and commissioners names have been forwarded to the National Assembly for approval.

Ms. Wafula Chebukati, Chair and Ms. Consolata Nkatha bucha, Mr. Boya Molu, Dr. Roselyn Akombe, Amb. Dr. Paul Kurgat, Ms. Margaret Wanjala and Prof. Abdi Guliye as commissioners.

The Senate is engaging the public and other stakeholders on the Elections Law after the National Assembly passed amendments to it. Key among those passed include: Clause 4A of sections 39 and 44 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that empowers the IEBC to revert to manual system in the event of technical failure during the elections.