FIVE Jubilee MPs back Cord’s calls for removal of IEBC commissioners
A section of Jubilee MPs have backed their counterparts from the Cord coalition in demanding for the nine IEBC commissioners to vacate office but under two conditions.
They want the date of elections changed from August to December and an overhaul carried out in the entire electoral body.
The MPs, majority from Central Kenya, told the Nairobi News that Kenyans have lost faith in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as it is currently constituted.
FOLLOW THE LAW
However, they said the law must be followed in undertaking the restructuring.
Kiambu County Women Representative Annah Gatheca said December is the appropriate month for the elections, arguing that an August date will present challenges to the national budget.
“Reading of the national budget for the entire East Africa countries was harmonized to the same date in June. This month is too close to August and things might not go well. We need to change the date as we restructure the IEBC,” she said.
Mukurwe-ini MP Kabando Wa Kabando, who also supports an overhaul of the electoral body, said there is need for a change of the election date as well.
“Definitely the overhaul of IEBC will mean a totally new recruitment process, familiarization and setting brand new platforms. The implications of this is a need for ample time to implement watertight electoral compartments. Constitutionalism means due process and elaborate systems,” he noted.
Although Mithika Linturi, MP Igembe South, supports dismissal of the entire IEBC officials, he said a change of the election date should not matter much.
RULE OF LAW
Mr Linturi however urged opposition leaders to follow the rule of law instead of protests in the streets.
Gone are the days that we carried out changes through protest, we need to follow the law and the Constitution that we all voted for, he said.
He added: “If all these changes will be done for the better of Kenyans, so be it. But all I know is that citizens of Kenya have really lost confidence on IEBC.”
Mathira MP Peter Weru also supported a change in the election date, saying voting in August will disrupt learning in schools.
“Kenyans are used holding elections in December. Now if we bring them in the middle of the year, we will disrupt a lot of things,” he noted.
