MPs allied to Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga have proposed that graft suspects be barred from running for office.
The MPs are calling for changes to the Leadership and Integrity Act that would exclude anyone convicted of a major felony or a graft-related offence from running for office in 2022.
The counter-argument has always been that accused are innocent until found guilty in a court of law and all possible appeals have been exhausted. It’s also against the law.
The MPs want to amend the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012 and the Elections Act, 2011.
Should that law come to pass, a state or public officer who has been charged with a corruption-related offence will not seek public office.
Constitution Article 99 provides that a person is disqualified from being elected an MP if he or she could be subject to imprisonment for at least six months as at the date of registration as a candidate.
However, the law offers reprieve saying a person is not disqualified unless all appeals and reviews of a sentence or decision are exhausted.
