The Jubilee Party on Thursday set the stage for heightened political tension in the country after tabling in Parliament a Bill proposing about seven drastic changes to laws governing elections in Kenya.
This move led to the collapse of consultative talks the IEBC Chairman, Wafula Chebukati, had called with Jubilee and NASA representatives to iron out some of the sticky issues in the upcoming October election. The National Super Alliance (NASA) walked out of the meeting saying the Bill would undermine the effectiveness of the deliberations.
Using their numerical strength, Jubilee MPs pushed through to the First Reading the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Election Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2017 that are currently in their public participation stage.
The Election Laws Amendment Bill, which the Opposition has termed as draconian, seeks to first reduce the powers assigned to the IEBC Chairperson as well as lower the qualifications for a holder of the position.
Among other changes, the IEBC Chair will not be required to have a law background. Presently, the holder of the post is required to be qualified enough to be a Judge of the Supreme Court.
The proposed law adds that “In the absence of the chairperson for any reason, the vice-chairperson shall assume the duties of the chairperson and exercise the powers and responsibilities of the chairperson until such time that another chairperson shall be appointed.”
If the Bill becomes law, in the absence of the chairperson and the vice-chairperson, members of the commission shall elect from amongst themselves one of their members to act as the chairperson and exercise the powers and responsibilities of the chairperson until such a time that a chairperson is appointed.
Second, the Bill seeks to have presidential election results be transmitted both electrically and manually with the manual system being the final say in case of discrepancies.
Thirdly, Jubilee has proposed that ballot papers will not be required to have similar security features so long as the information contained therein will not be misleading.
Jubilee has also proposed that in case the Supreme Court nullifies an election, the IEBC shall - within seven days - publish the names of political parties and candidates cleared to participate in the repeat poll.
Fifth, the party has proposed that in a case where two presidential candidates face-off in a repeat election, the IEBC shall declare the "last man standing" president in case his challenger withdraws from the race.
The Election Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2017 introduces a penalty for any errant presiding and returning officers found culpable for misconduct in an election.
The draft law proposes that if a presiding officer knowingly fails to complete the results document or willingly submits and incomplete document he will be liable to a five-year jail term without bail.
Finally, the Bills will grant a sitting President the right to use state resources to run his re-election campaign.
Through their numerical strength, Jubilee MPs marshalled 144 votes against the Opposition's 53 votes to shorten maturation period of the contentious bills from 14 days to one.
Political pundits and church leaders have condemned Jubilee's new action saying its a recipe for political acrimony and could cause chaos in the country.
