Kenyan Seeks to Amend the Constitution to Have Losing Presidential Candidate Automatically Elected to Parliament

A Kenyan voter has petitioned the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) seeking authority to collect a million signatures in a bid to amend the Constitution.

Nyongesa Makhanu, an architect by profession is proposing a raft of changes to the Constitution, key among them, rewarding the runner-up in a presidential election with a slot in the National Assembly and their running mate with a slot in the Senate.

He argues that the presidential candidate who receives the second highest number of votes should be automatically elected to the National Assembly, and their running mate automatically elected to the Senate.

“A major setback presented by our Constitution is that, it did not provide the worthy competitor in the presidential contest with any formal position in the three arm Government. This scenario denies the republic an opportunity to have effective parliamentary oversight of the executive,” Makhanu wrote.

Makhanu further proposes that a president be elected from a third community other than that of the retiring or the predecessor. This limitation should not apply to the sitting President and his deputy, he says.

“Informed by the fact that one of the leading contestants in the 2007 presidential contest was from a third community, the contest became very antagonistic along ethnic cleavages. Other than those from first community, citizens from other communities did not readily accept the outcome as announced by the Electoral Commission, and hence, precipitated the post-election violence and crimes against humanity,” he adds.

The voter also suggests that running partners for presidential and gubernatorial candidates be of the complementary gender and that the General Election be held on the third Tuesday of December after every five years. He argues that holding elections on the second Tuesday of August affects national economic activities and the school calendar “negatively”.

 “There is a need to adopt an electoral system which fosters national inclusivity, cohesion, and stability in the presidency, premised on the inalienable right of all eligible Kenyans to contest for the presidency, with a realistic chance for the best person of their generation to win, irrespective of their gender or community of birth,” he said.

Makhanu also proposed the clustering of the 47 counties into nine communities based on regional proximity, broad ethnic lingual characteristic, and political inclination.

“I look forward to your guidance and expedited authority,” Makhanu stated in his letter.