Lobby group in court to stop referendum push

Lobby group in court to stop referendum push

A Kisumu lobby group has moved to court to seek interpretation on various clauses in the Constitution amid ongoing debate on having a referendum in the country.

They also want an enactment of a legislation to guide the country on the framework of holding a plebiscite.

Sumawe Youth Group, through their lawyer Ken Amondi, want the High Court in Kisumu to issue temporary conservatory orders stopping the electoral commission from conducting any referendum in the country, until the matter is heard and determined.

Justice Fred Ochieng, however, declined to certify the case as urgent, as the petitioners had prayed for on Monday.

He ordered the group, to serve the two respondents — the Attorney General and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) — further setting November 20, 2018 as the mention day of the matter.

In the petition, the petitioners argued that the law is silent on a number of issues that have been raised by Kenyans.

Omondi says the law does not clarify on whether changes or reduction in size of offices of the county government and national government require respective amendments to the Constitution by way of referendum or not.

The group also want clarity in terms of the kind of questions that must go to a referendum and which amendments can be done by the parliamentarians in exercise of the sovereign authority delegated to them by the constitution.

Tags:

kisumu Referendum Constitution amendments

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