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CIOC Chairman Abdikadir Mohammed

Kenya

CIOC opposes shift in August poll date

CIOC Chairman Abdikadir Mohammed

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 2 – The Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) has also now opposed the proposal by the Cabinet to amend the election date from August to December.

Chairman Abdikadir Mohammed says the Constitution should not be changed to fit into the government or regional budgetary cycles.

“I don’t think we should change the Constitution because it is difficult to hold the elections. I don’t think that’s sufficient ground to amend the Constitution,” said Mohammed who also chaired a parliamentary committee that participated in the Constitution drafting process.

He said that the Constitution was the ultimate foundation of the country’s laws and everything else should be organised around it.

“I also don’t think the Constitution should fit into the budget making process of either Kenya or the East African Community,” he said.

Mohammed said the defunct Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution Review which was involved in drafting the constitution had agreed that next year’s election should be held in December, while all future polls would be conducted in August.

“For those who are in the drafting process, we are very clear in our minds that we were talking about the next dispensation when it came to the new dates.

“That’s why we indicated in the transition clauses the issue of the life of this Parliament and the issue about the National Accord, otherwise that would not have been necessary if the date would have been as clear cut,” he explained.

The Supreme Court is due to issue a ruling on the dispute.

Another former Committee of Experts (CoE) member Otiende Amollo has also supported a December 2012 poll, but maintains that other elections in future should remain in August.

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Amollo explained that it is not practical to hold the next general elections any time before December 2012.

“I have said before that all the four basic articles 101, 136, 177 and 180 fall in chapters whose application is suspended by the virtue of the Schedule 6, Section 2(1) and (2).

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