The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has advertised tenders to supply the body with election materials, including those for declaring results of the referendum at the constituency, county and national tallying centers. This is despite a pending decision before the Court of Appeal, which is expected to make a ruling on legality of the BBI process, which seeks to amend country’s 2010 constitution.
Last week, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) secretariat chair Junet Mohamed asked the electoral agency to prepare for a possible referendum in the event that the Court of Appeal rules in favour of the process.
“If the Court of Appeal clears the Bill, IEBC has to prepare for a referendum. We don’t want to hear stories that they cannot conduct a referendum and a general election. If they managed two presidential elections within a span of two months, nothing stops them from conducting a referendum within a year to the elections,” the Suna East MP said, adding, “If we get a favourable ruling, we expect the president to assent to the Bill since Parliament already approved it. It is a constitutional requirement for IEBC to conduct a referendum. They have no choice but to proceed with the exercise.”
