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Hillary Mageka @hillarymageka

All spirants in next year’s General Election will have to posses a degree from a recognised university unless either Parliament changes the law or the courts outlaw it.

Besides, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) reiterated that civil servants seeking to run for office must resign by February 9, 2021 as required by law.

The law requires that public officers seeking elective seats resign six months to a general election.

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human rights on Wednesday, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the courts did not strike out the operation of the substantive law on civil servants seeking elective positions.

In March 2017, the Employment and Labour Relations declared Section 43(5) of the Election Act, 2011 unconstitutional and without any legal basis.

“Civil servants must resign six months to elections, that is February 9, 2022,” Chebukati told the committee.

Seat holders

On degree qualifications for elective seat holders in the coming 2022 polls, which has caused uproar among the political class, Chebukati said Section 22 of the Elections Act is very clear.

“The commission is a creature of the law and we are guided as such. I believe and I am aware that parliament is seized of the matter.

At the moment, we will enforce the law as it is , unless amended by Parliament,” he said.

A section of the politicians led by Deputy President William Ruto had urged MPs to review section 22 of the Elections Act saying it is discriminatory.

Implementation of the amended section 22 of the Election Act was postponed in the 2017 polls to allow candidates seeking to run for MP and MCA positions to acquire the required academic qualifications.

“We followed the law and the Election Act clearly states that all candidates in the six elective positions must have a university degree to be eligible to run for office,” said Chebukati.

Chebukati told the panel  chaired by Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni that IEBC has embarked on an electoral law review process that seeks to introduce a new provision to the Elections Act to obligate all agencies which host data that can be used to verify whether the candidates are qualified to share such information with the Commission.