NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 9 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has clarified that Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) who wish to contest as Members of Parliament in the August 2022 polls should not resign.
The Commission’s Chair Wafula Chebukati issued the clarification on Wednesday following confusion and uncertainty on the fate of the MCAs who have higher political ambitions.
“The Commission wishes to clarify that according to Article 99 (2) (d) of the Constitution as read together with Section 43 (5) and (6) of the Elections Act, MCAs who wish to contest as Members of Parliament should not resign by February 9, 2022,” he said.
He pointed out that their reasoning was backed by a Court of Appeal decision in 2022 that stayed the execution of the implementation of Article 99 2(d) of the Constitution which stipulates that the ward representatives seeking to be MPs should resign six months before the General Election.
Chebukati however, reminded the MCAs with ambitions that they must resign before submitting their nomination papers to the Returning Officers to contest as MPs.
A majority of MCAs across the country have expressed interest to join the parliamentary race in their various regions with this clarification coming in handy subsequently paving way for them to hit the ground running ahead of the polls.
The Chair of the County Assemblies Forum Ndegwa Wahome had earlier advised the ward representatives seeking to become Members of Parliament in the August elections to stay put and not to resign.
Wahome told Capital FM News that there is “no known requirement for MCAs to resign from their positions to contest for the position”.
“Article 99(2) (d) of the constitution has been ably interpreted by the Courts which have made a determination that an MCA does not require to resign to contest for a parliamentary seat,” he said on telephone.