Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) aspiring for higher elective offices in the August polls are facing a dilemma whether to resign or not amid contradicting calls by the Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi and the County Assemblies Forum (CAF).
CAF has asked all their members seeking elective mandate for elevated seats to disregard Muturi’s advisory arguing that their term expires on the date of the next general elections.
Yesterday, Muturi advised that they should resign by today.
However, the electoral body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has remained mum over the matter.
According to the Constitution, Article 99 (2) d “a person is disqualified from being elected as a Member of Parliament if the person is a Member of the County Assembly.”
The provision is further bolstered by the Elections Act which stipulates that all public officers seeking elective positions have to vacate office six months to the General Election, in this case today.
The ambiguity surrounding the issue comes after the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party withdrew its notice ordering the ward representatives to resign
“The Party wishes to withdraw the notice until we seek urgent clarification from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC),” the party’s Secretary General Veronica Maina said.
Muturi, who spoke at his JB Muturi Centre in Nairobi after attending the National Executive Council briefing of the Democratic Party, told the party officials to ensure that MCAs seeking parliamentary positions are not knocked out by a technicality.
“I am just taking the liberty to advise the Democratic Party National Executive Council that under Article 99, Clause 2, Paragraph D of the Constitution, a sitting member of the County Assembly must resign six months to the election date, which is tomorrow, February 9 for the August 9 General Election,” he said.
The House Speaker cited the court case in which Gatundu North MP Wanjiku Kibe has a running petition filed against her by her 2017 competitor Kungú Waibara who wanted her term terminated by the court on the technicality of failure to resign six months before as Kiambu County MCA before she vied.
Waibara won round one and round two of the case in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal respectively, but Kibe moved to the Supreme Court where the case is awaiting final determination.
Whereas the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is yet to issue direction on the matter.
