KENYANS living in the diaspora will participate in the August 2012 General Election if plans by the electoral agency to register them as voters before the end of this year is implemented.
The registration will target hundreds of thousands of Kenyans living abroad who have previously been locked out of voting. An Interim Independent Electoral Commission elections roadmap has scheduled the registration of voters in the diaspora for September. But before the registration happens, a new legislation will have to be put in place.
Yesterday, chairman of the IIEC Ahmed Issack Hassan said though the commission has put in place the roadmap scheduling different events including the registration of Kenyans abroad as voters, the mandate will be taken over by the new commission. “We have worked on a timetable that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission will implement to ensure elections are done as scheduled,” said Ahmed who spoke to the Star from Germany.
Ahmed said it will not be the work of the IIEC to register voters in the diaspora. The IIEC boss said his commission has almost completed implementing what it was formed to do.
The elections roadmap indicates that registration and polling centres will be identified abroad and gazzetted in November in readiness for the polls.
The roadmap already presented to Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo has also scheduled the appointment of the new IEBC commissioners for between April and June.
According the plan dubbed IEBC critical timeline seen by the Star, a selection committee to nominate candidates for the eight slots and one for the chairperson must be created by April 22.
The advertisement for the positions must also be run in the media by April 11 and a 14-day period given to applicants to submit their applications by May 11.
The new commission as per the timeline is expected to be sworn in before May 31 and must take over by June 3.
Source: www.nairobistar.com
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