The Members of the National Assembly have taken a move to push the next general election date from the first Tuesday of August to the third Monday of December.
This recommendation will consequently see them increase their parliamentary term by 4.5 months.
The ripple effect of the proposed amendment is that the Kenyan taxpayers will have to fund an extra Ksh1.2billion to keep the 416 lawmakers in office.
Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa presented the Bill to Parliament in March this year with the next step being debating by the parliament.
In his presentation, Wamalwa argued that the current election date in August affects the country’s school calendar.
The Kiminini MP further noted that in case of a run-off, the elections also disrupt the national examinations that are scheduled for the end of the year.
Similar concerns over disruption of the academic calendar were raised during the Tuesday, 8 August 2017 ended with a repeat election on Thursday, 26 October 2017.
There were concerns that the long campaigns and electioneering period would disrupt the candidates' concentration on revising for the exams.
This especially was informed by the fact that most campaigns across the country are often held on school playgrounds hence inconveniencing the learners.
Ugenya MP David Ochieng presented a similar proposal three years ago but it flopped as he could not get the required majority support.
