The contentious Elections Amendment bill was on Wednesday
morning passed by Jubilee legislators, backed by the government.
The bill stated among other things that the burden of proof
should the election be contested will lie solely on the petitioner, that
returning officers will be required to sign the forms 34B or face a five year
jail term. The amendments also stated that should there be a dispute between
the manual and electronic transmission of results, the manual results will be
superior.
The parliamentary select committee did however drop a few
clauses including one where the IEBC chair was not required to have qualifications
equal to those of a Supreme Court judge.
Also dropped was the reduction of the quorum from five to
three and delegating the Chair’s roles to his deputy or other commissioners.
The Jubilee affiliated MPs have said that the amendments
will mend all the loopholes before the fresh elections are held.
Leader of Majority, Aden Duale has said that the amendments
are noble.
The opposition legislators have said the laws are draconian
in nature hence their boycotting the house proceedings.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to sign the bill into
law before the end of the week.
