CIC: Altering election date must be done by referendum

NAIROBI: Any attempt to amend the Constitution to change the election date requires a referendum, the Commission on Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) has said.

Further, CIC warned that the proposal to amend the law to extend the term of the current Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) will also have to be subjected to a referendum.

CIC Chairman Charles Nyachae said yesterday that the constitutional amendment bill sponsored by Ugenya MP David Ochieng should be approved or rejected by Kenyans in a referendum.

"Our understanding is that changing the election date will interfere with the term of the President. This therefore requires a referendum," Nyachae said.

The CIC boss, said according to the Constitution, President Uhuru Kenyatta's term begun the day he was sworn in April 2013 and will last until the next election-the Tuesday of the second week of the August of the fifth year.

This, according to the CIC boss, was reinforced by the High Court opinion that set March 2013 as the last General Elections' date but said the next poll has to be held as stipulated in the Constitution.

"...if you change the election date, this means you have affected the term of the President which according to article 255 has to go to the referendum," he added.

Apart from changing the election date, Jubilee MPs are also proposing to amend the supreme law to extend the term of the current IEBC.

"Whether we change the election date or not, the extension of the term of IEBC by at least one year is inevitable," National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said.

However, Nyachae said other than article 255 of the Constitution, amending any clause that touches on the independence of the Judiciary, commissions and independent offices requiring a referendum, article 250 is also categorical on the term of commissioners.

Article 250 (6) (a) states that unless ex officio, a commissioner shall be appointed for a single term of six years and is not eligible for re-appointment.

Nyachae was speaking in Nairobi during a breakfast meeting with editors to announce CIC's activities to mark five years of promulgation of the Constitution. The commission has lined up regional, sectorial and national fora for Kenyans to discuss the status of the implementation.