Some church leaders have differed with their colleagues’ stand on the disputed changes to the electoral laws and now want President Uhuru Kenyatta to assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Law 2015.
The Pentecostal movement, under the auspices of Inter-Faith Council of Kenya, yesterday expressed support for a manual back-up system for voter identification and vote transmission “to ensure no Kenyan is barred from voting”.
Their move comes barely two weeks after the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SupKem) urged the President to reject the amendments to avert chaos.
“The president should rise above partisan interests by rejecting those amendments. Laws that come into force through negotiated processes cannot be changed the way it happened in Parliament,” said Supkem deputy secretary general Hassan ole Naado.
But Inter-Faith Council of Kenya chairman Archbishop Gerry Kibarabara yesterday said the back-up system is necessary as most parts of the country are still facing network failure which could lock out many from participating in their constitutional right.
He also accused the Senate of vetoing the National Assembly, warning the trend risk creating more confusion as the country prepares for the August General Election.
“This organisation supports the use of manual register as a back-up in case of technological failure by the BVR to avoid delayed electoral process. The National Assembly, therefore, acted in its wisdom to amend the electoral laws to provide for manual register,” said Kibarabara.
Bishop Stephen Ndichu said the bill should not have been referred to the Senate and urged the two Houses to learn to co-exist. “We have seen a situation where every bill coming from the National Assembly is being vetoed by the Senate.
What is the use of MPs making laws if they are being vetoed by another House?” he asked. Senate reconvened for a special sitting last week to deliberate on controversial changes to the electoral laws adopted by the National Assembly.
The Bill was later referred to the Justice Committee chaired by Busia Senator Amos Wako. If the Senate endorses the changes and President Uhuru Kenyatta signs the Bill into law, the IEBC will have powers to use a manual voting system in areas where electronic will fail. Opposition Cord is however opposed to the changes claiming it will be abused to rig the election.
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