Proposal to change election date to December flops after only 187 MPs show up

A motion to change the election date has flopped after Members of Parliament failed to raise the required numbers.

The Bill proposed that the date be changed from the first Tuesday of August to the third Monday of December.

The bid to change the election date failed after only 187 MPs turned up in the House, which is below the required number of 233.

If the Bill had been passed into law, current MPs would have had their terms increased by 4.5 months and Kenyan taxpayers would have had to fund an extra Ksh.1.2 billion to keep the 416 lawmakers in office.

Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa presented the Bill to Parliament in March this year arguing that the current election date in August affects the country’s school calendar.

He added that in case of a run-off, the elections also disrupt the national examinations that are scheduled for the end of the year.