NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 10 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has given political parties until November 16 to refile revised nomination rules as required under Section 27 (1) of the Elections Act.
All the eighty-nine political parties which submitted their nomination rules by the October 18 were found to be noncompliant with requirements of the law.
“The Commission has determined from the review that none of the Political Parties has fully complied with the requirements of the law and has in the premises communicated to the Political Parties to revise their party nomination rules and procedures pursuant to Section 27(2A)(b) of the Elections Act, 2011,” IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati said in a statement on Wednesday.
Once the electoral agency reviews the nomination rules, the political parties who will have not adhered with the prescribed regulations may be barred from participating in in the August 9, 2022 General Elections.
“Nomination Rules that fail to comply with the requisite regulations, shall be declared void and rejected,” Chebukati stated.
IEBC had announced that it will reject any rules that do not comply with the two-thirds gender rule.
Chebukati stated that the requirement was instilled to ensure that the elusive gender principle whose attained has faced numerous hurdles is achieved.
The commission maintained that the requirement emanates from a High Court ruling that directed the agency to devise administrative mechanisms to ensure gender parity is realized among parties during nominations for parliamentary elections.