August Or March?

310. No, this is not the ‘panda mbegu’ initiative but the number of days to the next general election. To be exact, it will be on the 1^st of August 2017.

This is according to the 2010 constitution which dictates that the general elections will be held on the first Tuesday of every August of the election year.

However, MPs are raising red flags on this date. According to them, the date is too soon and are instead suggesting that the elections be held on March of 2018!

Their reason is that the remaining time is insufficient compared to the task ahead. For one, new IEBC officials are yet to be appointed. Upon appointment, they will be expected to conduct a nationwide voter awareness and registration. All of this is, they say, impossible with the remaining time.

As it is right now, electronic gadgets to aid in the elections are yet to be procured. So, the question begs to be asked; to postpone or not to postpone?

Like a coin, this whole issue has two sides.

Should we decide to go on anyway, the credibility of the results will be questioned which may lead to chaos. Should we decide to postpone, we will lose a substantive amount of money in form of the huge salaries and allowances we will pay the elected officials for an extra 8 months!

With the later in mind, comes the question; is the MPs’ motive one driven by goodwill or greed? It is important to note that the current MPs had expressed their concerns that their term in office wouldn’t be 5 years as stipulated by the constitution. This was after the 2012 elections were pushed forward to March 2013. That translates to a 4 years and 5 months term.

They are expected to table the motion in parliament next week. Only time will tell whether it’ll be August or March.