IEBC announces adjustment on 2022 election dates

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati has asked the parliament to pass election polls laws to allow the commission ample time to prepare for 2022 elections. He says the parliament is playing cat and mouse game in passing the polls related laws and this would jeopardize the operations of the commission mandate. The Bills IEBC wants the legislatures to pass include IEBC amendment bills and referendum bills among many others.

IEBC chairman said “We are hoping that we shall continue to engage Parliament with a view of having these reforms in place. We are already late in the day but we hope that latest by December this year if there are any reforms then they should be in place before we get into next year’s election mode,” Chebukati said this during a meeting with various members drawn from political parties.

The parliament on Thursday voted to nullify Campaign Fund Limits which would limit presidential candidate from spending Ksh. 4.4 billion and Ksh. 17 billion spent by political parties, together with other different seats in the coming 2022 elections. The legistlatures accused the IEBC that they submit the draft regulations late. IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati is expected to appear before the parliament Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on 5th October to give the progress on IEBC preparedness in tackling the 2022 general elections.

The commission is undergoing the challenges of inadequate funds for preparation, Chebukati has said that IEBC requires Ksh 40 billion to conduct a general election. The commision was allocated Ksh. 27 billion by the Nationa Treasury leaving a gap of 13 billion Kenya shillings. Chairman has been up and down asking the National Treasury to allocate more money so that they can conduct a credible general election. Nationa Assembly Budget chairperson and JLAC committee will meet for a joint meeting to deliberate on the IEBC funding ahead of the 2022 general elections.

IEBC has announced the adjustment on the election key dates on General election date gazettement from 14th March 2022 to 19th January 2022 to allow political parties conduct party primaries within 129 days. The commission has also said “The dates to conduct party primaries, resolution of intra-party disputes submission of names of candidates after primaries have also been changed to May 26, 2022,”