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Kenya: Polls Law Review Urgent
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The Nation (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
25 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008
Nairobi
A report on last year's election campaign released on Wednesday was quite insightful. While the figure of Sh5.6 billion alleged to have been spent on the vote-hunt cannot be verified, what is not in dispute is that the campaigns were characterised by bribery and chicanery.
The net sum is that we do not have a fair and honest electoral process - one that allows voters to make informed decisions about whom they should choose. Worse, it transforms elections into money minting enterprises, where the rich get their way and those seeking power and their hirelings resort to extortion. This brings to the fore the fundamental question of electoral reform and, specifically, regulations on political parties funding. Although the Political Parties Bill was passed last year and assented to, it has not come into effect yet.
But beyond the Government funding parties, the law does not address campaign funding, which is the reason why we need new laws or amendments to the existing ones to provide controls on how funds should be raised and how much. Such laws must go together with enforcement systems. Reforms must go beyond restructuring the Election Commission of Kenya, itself a disgrace that should have long been disbanded, but encompass all facets, including nomination procedures.
This is the time to start the process of reviewing the electoral process to rid society of those malpractices that serve to disenfranchise voters and undermine democratic practices.
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