Petition filed to stop Parliament from scrapping live-streaming of election results

The petitioner lawyer John Muremi Njomo, wants the court to issue conservatory orders restraining the National Assembly and the Senate from presenting the Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024, also known as Senate Bill No. 29 of 2024, for presidential assent in a form that removes the live-streaming obligation.

In the petition, Njomo challenges Clause 22 of the Bill, arguing that any provision seeking to repeal or omit the requirement under Section 39 of the Elections Act for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to establish and maintain a mechanism for live-streaming election results announced at polling stations should be stopped.

He is asking the court to certify the application as urgent and issue interim orders pending an inter partes hearing.

Alternatively, the petitioner wants the court to suspend the operation of Clause 22 and any resulting provision of an Act of Parliament to the extent that it removes the live-streaming requirement.

Njomo is also seeking orders compelling the preservation of the existing legal position, allowing the IEBC to continue its planning, procurement and preparations for the General Election scheduled for August 10, 2027, and any by-elections on the basis that the requirement remains in force.

The Attorney General, the National Assembly and the Senate are named as respondents, while the IEBC is listed as an interested party.

The petitioner has further asked the court to certify the case as raising substantial questions of law under Article 165(4) of the Constitution, paving the way for the Chief Justice to assign an uneven number of judges, not fewer than three, to hear and determine the dispute.

The petition comes after the National Assembly passed the elections bill, removing the legal requirement for the IEBC to livestream election results as they are announced at polling stations.

The Bill, Senate Bill No. 29 of 2024, sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Minority Leader Junet Mohamed seeks to implement recommendations arising from the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) and amend several provisions of the Elections Act, 2011.