Don’t dither, announce Kenya polls date now

The Kenyan coalition partners should move quickly to announce the month in which the next general election will be held, before hotheads make political capital out of it.

Already, politicians have started accusing the two Principals of playing games with the election date. Given the violence that followed the last election, most foreign investors would like to know the exact month Kenya will be holding polls to enable them to plan accordingly.

In January, the High Court left the options open in its ruling, where it said Kenya can go to the polls in March 2013 or December 2012, if there is a signed agreement between President Mwai Kibaki  and Prime Minister  Raila Odinga to dissolve parliament.

A large section of Kenyans have concurred that it would be better to hold elections in December this year, so as not to prolong the electioneering period that has already kicked off. More than one year of campaigns and political brickbats would not be good for business.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has also suggested December as the best time to hold elections.

Even though the new Constitution says general elections are to take place on the second Tuesday of August after every five years, the delay in enacting essential Bills to fully implement the Constitution made it impossible to hold elections in August this year.

Still, the two Principals must take into account the bigger picture because it would not be wise to hold elections before the IEBC is fully prepared. This would only mean a repeat of the bungled 2007 elections that led to violence.