Parliament rejects November 7 election date

Parliament has rejected amendments to change the election date to November after it failed to amass 184 votes needed to effect the historic change.

After a secret ballot, the Speaker said Parliament was unable to obtain the 184 needed to pass the bill. The Majority got 125 votes.

The vote quashing the change became predictable after the Minority signaled it would not support the Bill which needed a super majority to succeed.

Debating the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2016, Minority Leader and Suame MP Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said although the Minority agrees in principle to the change, it is disappointed in the sloppy way the EC has handled it.

He argued that in Kenya, important electoral reforms took about 10 months of careful deliberations ahead of their general elections. It pass an amendment barely five months to presidential and parliamentary elections is too late, he suggested.

He condemned the EC for the poor management of the process and said the EC had demonstrated that it was not ready for November 7.

The Minority leader said the EC has a Continuous Registration Exercise to conduct to allow more eligible voters to register.

He believes many could be disenfranchised if the change is effected because the EC would be hurried through other important registration exercise.

But Majority leader Alban Bagbin and Nadowli West MP rebutting said “if you are not ready by November 7, you will not be ready by December 7”.