President Uhuru Kenyatta is holding a secret weapon that could help him if the IEBC is disrupted in next week's presidential election.
The Head of State is yet to sign the election amendment laws passed by the Senate and National Assembly a week ago.
According to the Sunday Standard, the President was surprised by the resignation of Commissioner Roselyn Akombe and anticipates that the chair of the commission Wafula Chebukati might also resign unexpectedly.
"He will definitely sign it. It is no longer about making a consideration. The election has to be held as ordered by the Supreme Court,” a source close to the President stated.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta DP William Ruto and other Jubilee Party Leaders"]
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In the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2017, the requirement that the chairperson of IEBC be a person who is qualified to hold the office of judge of the Supreme Court under the Constitution is dropped.
This removes the requirement that the chairman is a lawyer and provides for the vice-chairman to automatically become the head of the commission in the absence of the chairman.
The Bill also provides that both manual and electronic transmission shall be used in elections adding that where there is a discrepancy between the manual and electronically transmitted results, the manual shall prevail.
Another clause notes that failure to transmit the results electronically shall not be used to invalidate the result.
The Bill also provides that if there are only two candidates and one withdraws, then the one remaining will be declared to have been elected unopposed.
If the President signs the bill into law, the proposed amendments will take effect in the repeat election scheduled for Thursday.
Therefore, if the Chairman of the Commission resigns there will be no stalemate since the vice-chair can fill the position. In the same way, if the electronic system fails results can b transmitted manually hence killing any questions regarding electronic transmission of results.
The Opposition, has, however, dismissed the attempt to change the electoral laws arguing that it should be a referendum.
NASA announced that they will move to court to challenge the amendments if passed into law.
[caption caption="File image of NASA Leaders"]
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Some of the clauses NASA is against include; the powers of the IEBC Chairperson where the Opposition argues that Parliament does not have the powers to enact a law that permits an ordinary member of a commission to perform a function which the Constitution vests in the chairperson of the Commission.
"The law is clear, article 250 (2) of the Constitution notes that every constitutional commission shall have a chairperson and members, therefore the amendment touches on the Constitution and needs a referendum,” an Opposition Legislator stated.
According to the Opposition, the President's team is planning to change the rules to favor them and avoid future petitions that could annul the election of another President.
