A section of members of the parliament has now moved to court to compel the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is an independent (IEBC) to conduct the boundary review before the 2022 General Election.

The members led by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni have drafted a petition to delay the coming general elections.

This is despite the fact that the constitution stipulates that the General Election must occur on August 9, 2022.

Ndarangwa among the affected constituencies

The MPs represent 26 constituencies including Ndaragwa, Mvita, Budalangi, and Lamu West that enjoy special protection because they do not meet the constitutional threshold per constituency of 163,000 voters.

Ndaragwa said the MPs of the affected area will meet next week to finalize their petition to claim that going to an election with the issue unresolved could lead to a constitutional crisis with the retention of their electoral units in doubt.

However, the timing of this move is bound to draw suspicion from those opposed to any move to postpone the election.

William Ruto rubbished opposed the call

A few months ago, Deputy President William Ruto rubbished calls by a section of leaders across the political divide to postpone the August 2022 General Election.

Speaking on Saturday, June 19, during an inspection of learning facilities and presentation of a bus to Paroo Secondary School in Sigor, West Pokot county, Ruto said the polls must go on as planned.

“The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was forced on Kenyans, thus rendering our four years in office useless. There is no development agenda worth saying that has been achieved during this period,” said Ruto.

His sentiment was supported by ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi who also opposed the call by a section of politicians.

Mudavadi said the constitution must be adhered to, joining a growing list of politicians and members of the civil society who have maintained the elections must be held on August 9, 2022, as stipulated in the constitution.

“Constitutionalism must be followed. Whatever we do must fall within the constitution,” Mudavadi said.

According to Chapter Seven, Article 89 of the constitution mandates the IEBC to review the names and boundaries of constituencies at intervals of not less than 8 years and not more than 12 years.

Still, any review shall be completed at least 12 months before a general election of members of parliament.