Kenya, Aug. 8 -- Six people have gone to the High Court in Nairobi to challenge the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) because the IEBC has refused to process requests to recall Members of Parliament (MPs).
The petitioners; Newton Mugambi Boore, Dennis Mwaki Chabari, Morris Mawira, Agnes Mwende Justus, Seth Mark Kinoti, and Christine Kanana Kithinji, believe that the IEBC's refusal violates their rights and stops the public from holding their leaders accountable.
The main issue here relates to Article 104 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, which allows voters to recall their MPs before their term ends.
However, the IEBC says it can't process these requests because there is no clear law in place since a High Court ruling in 2017. The Commission stated on July 30 that while they support voters' right to recall MPs who do not perform well, there is currently no law to help with the recall process for MPs.
The IEBC chair, Erastus Ethekon, explained that the only legal procedures that exist right now are for recalling Members of County Assemblies, not for National Assembly or Senate members.
In the past, the court found parts of the Elections Act that explained how to recall MPs were unconstitutional and too strict. Since that ruling, the petitioners claim no new laws have been made to fill this gap.
They also argue that Parliament, especially the National Assembly, has not done its job to create laws for the recall process, as required by Article 104(2) of the Constitution.
They believe this lack of action protects MPs from being held accountable and goes against their rights under various articles of the Constitution.
The petition says that after the 2017 ruling, Parliament changed the County Governments Act in 2020 to create a way for County Assembly members to be recalled, but did not make similar laws for MPs, which created confusion about how to recall them.
In their petition, the six people argue that the right to recall should be automatically valid and does not need new laws to work. They want the court to order the IEBC to accept and process recall requests based on the existing rules in the Elections Act and the County Governments Act.
They want the court to declare that the right to recall is a constitutional right that can be exercised without new laws, and that the IEBC must help voters use this right.
Finally, they ask the court to direct Parliament to create the necessary laws for recalling MPs within 90 days and to stop the IEBC from refusing any recall petitions sent by voters until this matter is resolved or new laws are made.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.