Why elections must be held in 2021 and not 2022
By MUNGAI KIHANYA
The Sunday Nation
Nairobi,
26 June 2016
I followed the constitution-making process very closely: reading every
draft from cover to cover and sending my input to the various committees
that were engaged in the preparation of the document. Two things were
very clear: first, Kenyans wanted a parliamentary term that does NOT run longer
than five years and, second, they wanted predictable dates of general elections
For that reason, I do not think that the
Nzamba Kitonga Committee of Experts on the Constitution to drafted
Article 101(1) in a hurry. The section reads:
“A general election of members
of Parliament shall be held on the second Tuesday in August in every
fifth year.”
Unfortunately, many Kenyans assume that the term of parliament is
exactly five years. Therefore, it is widely expected that, after 2017,
the next general election will be in August 2022. After all; isn’t 2017
+ 5 = 2022?
However, as was pointed out in 2013 by a reader of this column (J. P.
Kamau), if we count the years correctly, it turns out that the general
election after 2017 should be on 17th August 2021. If we wait
till August 2022, we will have moved into the sixth year and thereby
broken the law – both the letter and the spirit; remember, the idea was to
ensure that the term never exceeds five years.
Let’s count again together, like little children:
The first year will run from 8th August 2017 to 7th
August 2018;
The second from 8th August 2018 to 7th August
2019;
The third from 8th August 2019 to 7th August 2020;
The fourth from 8th August 2020 to 7th August
2021;
The fifth from 8th August 2021 to 7th August 2022
Yes. I agree. Five years will END on 7th August 2022, but the
question is: should the elections be held BEFORE or AFTER this date? The
constitution says “in every
fifth year”; NOT “after every
five years. And remember that
Wanjiku wanted a term that does not exceed five years.
Now, if we go to the calendar of the year 2022, we find that 7th
August will be a Sunday. So the second Tuesday in August 2022 will be
the 9th. Unfortunately, that will be outside the five-year
limit.
Looking at August 2021, we find that the 7th will be on a
Saturday, so the first Tuesday in August in the fifth year will be the
10th; and the second one will be on 17th.
Therefore the general election should be on this day, that is, 17th
August 2021.
Let us spend the coming months we have preparing ourselves psychologically
for a very short term of parliament that will last just four years and
ten days. It won’t be the first one: in 1983, we had a general election
only three years and 11 months after the previous one of 1979. But if we
really want an election in 2022, instead of 2021, we must start
preparing a constitutional amendment and a referendum.
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