Jubilee passes law allowing manual voting as CORD moves to court

MPs walk into Parliament after they were barred from entering the compound in their cars.  

Members of Parliament allied to Jubilee Thursday passed amendments to the election laws, allowing manual voting and transmission of poll results in the event that technology fails.

While the law was being passed, CORD legislators were marching in the streets of Nairobi having stormed out of the House claiming intimidation by their Jubilee counterparts and police. 

The sitting, which was expected to run into the afternoon, ended by 11am as Jubilee MPs passed all the proposed amendments including the Election Campaigns Finance Regulations that will require MPs to submit details of their campaign finance committees two months to the polls.  

The sitting was characterised by fracas with journalists being barred from the media gallery thus preventing any reporting on the goings on inside the House. Live transmission later resumed after the Opposition left the building.

One reporter was attacked and arrested by the officers at the Parliament buildings, while a photographer’s camera was confiscated.

Speaking after storming out of the proceedings, CORD co-principal Moses Wetangula said that some of the Opposition legislators had been attacked and hurt. He named Irshad Sumra (Embakasi South), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay Woman Representative) and Peter Kaluma (Homa Bay) as some of those injured.

Today’s session was marked by heavy presence of police officers both within and outside Parliament buildings, which the Opposition termed as intimidation and assault of Parliamentary democracy. The roads adjacent to Parliament were also blocked. 

Led by co-principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula, the Opposition moved to court to file a petition challenging the changes to the election laws.