Contestants who missed bank accounts deadline to know their fate as IEBC meets

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will meet this morning to determine the fate of candidates who failed to beat the December 8 deadline for submitting election campaign finance bank account details even as Parliament described the regulation as “illegal”.

Ezra Chiloba, IEBC chief executive, told the National Assembly’s Committee on Delegated Legislation that the commission’s full plenary will meet this morning to decide the way forward.

This is after several candidates, including Cord leader Raila Odinga, failed to meet the deadline for submitting the bank accounts as required by the new rules.

Mr Odinga has since moved to court to challenge the legality of the regulations, which the commission published in the Kenya Gazette without the approval of Parliament as mandated by the law.

“This is an administrative policy decision that the full plenary of the commission will decide. As we speak, we are still receiving forms detailing accounts and signatories for those wishing to contest the August 8, 2017 General Election,” he said.

The committee learned that the IEBC secretariat is still taking policy directions from the Isaak Hassan-led commission despite giving notice of their resignation. The commissioners are in office awaiting the recruitment of a fresh team after MPs passed a law in September to send them home.

Yesterday, Mr Chiloba told MPs that the commission would also determine the fate of public officials who wish to run in the next polls given that they did not also beat the deadline set under the Elections Campaign Finance Regulations.

“We have civil servants who would want to contest the 2017 General Election and who will be resigning on or before February 7, 2017.

“This category of persons did not also beat the deadline for submitting signatories and their bank accounts,” he said.

Mr Chiloba blamed the Elections Campaign Finance Act, 2013 for the confusion, saying the parent Act required that the accounts be submitted a year to elections.

“We have a problem in the parent Act that requires to be amended. We have made proposals to the Justice and Legal Affairs committee to have the law changed to require that the bank accounts and signatories of the same be submitted to the commission six months to the General Election,” he said.

Baringo North MP and the committee chairman William Cheptumo said as far as MPs are concerned, there are no regulations on election campaign financing.

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