Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula (centre) leads Cord parliamentarians in
addressing journalists at Capitol Hill Towers in Nairobi on December
19, 2016. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The stage has been set for a clash between Jubilee and Cord MPs
in Parliament on Tuesday when they are expected to hold a special
sitting to debate the laws and regulations that will guide the 2017
General Election.
The two main
coalitions in the National Assembly on Monday maintained hardline
positions, with Jubilee vowing to push through amendments to the
Elections (Amended) Act and elections regulations to be in line with
“reality”. Cord, on the other hand, declared that its MPs would oppose
any move to change either the law or the regulations, accusing Jubilee
of harbouring a sinister motive.
The
laws were agreed on by a team of parliamentarians from both coalitions
as part of election reforms ahead of the General Election.
Both
sides on Monday said they had mobilised their members for the debate in
the National Assembly, amid fears that the session could be marred by
disruptions. In March, Cord members used whistles and shouted down
speakers when they disrupted President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the
Nation address in the National Assembly.
During
the second edition of the Luo Cultural Festival at Homa Bay High School
on Monday, Mr Odinga told opposition MPs to remain vigilant in
Parliament to block Jubilee’s moves.
'ARE DOOMED'
“We
want to tell them that their plans are doomed to fail. I have shared
with Wanga (Homa Bay Woman Rep) and asked her to carry enough water to
Parliament should they try to bring such changes,” Mr Odinga said in an
apparent reference to the woman rep’s 2014 action when she splashed the
Deputy Speaker, Ms Joyce Laboso, with water during a stormy session.
Mr Odinga reiterated that any attempts to change laws to tilt the 2017 election outcome will meet resistance.
Addressing
youths at Kendu Bay showground, in a reference to rigging, Mr Odinga
said: “We will not accept Jubilee’s new schemes. Their plan is to stop
electronic voting, which is vital as it will ensure that no dead voters
cast their votes.”
In Nairobi,
Mr Johnson Sakaja, a nominated Jubilee MP, said the ruling coalition was
prepared for “any theatrics” that could be used by their rivals to
block debate on the amendments.
“If
they try to come to the House with theatrics like blowing whistles, we
know how to deal with them. On our side, we have agreed to conduct our
affairs with integrity,” he said in a telephone interview.
National
Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said Jubilee MPs would support the
amendments. According to him, the changes had been agreed on by the
Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), including members from the
Opposition. The committee is led by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkong’a.
'SUPPORT IT'
“The
amendments belong to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee. Once they
have been presented, they belong to the House and all its members will
support it,” he said.
At
Capitol Hill Centre, however, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula led the
Cord team in vowing to block any changes proposed by Jubilee. He
questioned the motive of Jubilee MPs pushing to amend the laws they
helped create.
“Cord will not
sit and watch changes being made to the election laws in such a hurried
manner,” said Mr Wetang’ula, who accused the Speakers of both Houses of
working for the Executive.
He
said the reasons Jubilee was giving on why it wants the law changed are
vague, and wondered how the National Assembly could be recalled to
handle a matter that is at the committee stage.
Mr
Wetang’ula insisted that the electoral commission must be ready to
embrace technology and the Opposition will not accept anything less.
“It
is irrational, unrealistic and a scheme to rig the election by refusing
to embrace technology,” said the Ford Kenya leader, who is also the
Senate Minority Leader. “We have given them the law and money and
therefore IEBC cannot tell us that unpurchased machines cannot work.”
'SERIOUS CHALLENGE'
However,
Mr Duale said the amendments were drafted after IEBC made a
presentation showing the “serious challenges” it would face implementing
the law if it was not changed.
“If
a law poses serious challenges, and it has happened before with other
laws, Parliament rises to the occasion,” said Mr Duale. According to
him, there was need for a backup for the electronic system.
Responding
to Cord’s vow not to allow the changes to go through, he said: “We are
not going to hang ourselves when we can see clearly we are being taken
to the hangman.”
Siaya Senator James Orengo said the IEBC was looking for excuses and challenged them to stick to the law as it is.
At
the centre of the debate is the proposal by the Chepkong’a committee to
amend the Elections Act and provide for a manual backup system for the
voting, transmission and tallying of election results.
The
new subsection 14b(1) reads: “Notwithstanding the provisions of
sections 39 and 44, the (electoral) commission shall put in place a
complementary mechanism for identification and transmission of election
results that is simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and
transparent to ensure that the Commission complies with Article 38 (2)
and (3) of the Constitution.”
MANUAL SYSTEM
The
proposed amendment goes ahead to provide that if technology fails, the
manual system shall be used to identify voters and transmit results. In
subsection 14b(2), it proposes: “The commission shall use the
complementary mechanism referred to in sub-section (1) for
identification and transmission of election results only where the
technology initially deployed fails.”
Other
areas of concern with the amendments is the increase of the number of
voters in a polling station from 500 to 700, removal of education
qualifications for aspirants and the deadline for compliance with the
Campaign Financing Act.
In Turbo, Uasin Gishu, Cord leader Raila Odinga said that any Bill passed in the Parliament cannot be amended within six months.
“Parliament
passed laws what we agreed, and we insist that no changes be made to
laws until six months have elapsed. This period has not elapsed. What
they want to do is against the law and we will not accept that. Kenyans
are opposed to that,” Mr Odinga told journalists. With him at the time
was the Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi,
Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Lugari MP Ayub Savula.
Besides
the clause on electronic management and transmission of elections
results, the MPs are set to debate the law on election financing and the
requirement for MPs to have university degrees.
Mr
Odinga said Cord will marshal legislators allied to opposition parties
to shoot down any attempt to introduce amendments to the negotiated law.
“They want to use their tyranny of numbers,” he said.
He also denied claims that the Opposition was planning to rig polls as alleged by Jubilee legislators on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Jubilee government has been asked to ensure a digital election in 2017.
The
Machakos County woman rep, Dr Susan Musyoka (Wiper), said there should
be no manual backup, which is prone to manipulation, as happened in
previous General Elections.
Addressing
the Press in Machakos, Dr Musyoka said Jubilee came to power while
branding itself as ‘a digital government’ and it was up to them to live
up to the billing.
“We would like to have a digital election in 2017. We will not accept vote-rigging,” she said.
Report by Bernard Namunane, Ouma Wanzala, Justus Ochieng, Barrack Oduor, Stanley Kimuge and Stephen Muthini.
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