Two civil society groups, Katiba Institute and Transform Empowerment for Action Initiative (TEAM) have filed a constitutional petition at the High Court in Kisumu requesting the court to declare parts of the Elections Act of 2011 and the County Government Act of 2012 unconstitutional.
The two groups argued that the Acts that purport to provide for the procedure of recalling elective members of the National and County Assemblies are unattainable.
Katiba Institute Executive Director Waikwa Wanyoike said that MPs passed the laws that make it impossible for citizens to exercise their right to recall them under Article 104 of the Constitution.
Mr Wanyoike said they want the court to invalidate those sections of the law so as to pave way for proper laws that are facilitative of the right to recall.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday after filing the petition, Wanyoike said they have asked the Court, if it finds the law on recall to be unconstitutional, to provide Parliament with a limited timeline to pass the new law.
TEAM Executive Director George Owuor said electorates should be allowed to recall their leaders without putting laws that inhibit.
Mr Owuor said the electorate will give up and will have to put up with bad leadership for five years if the law is not amended.
“The people of Makueni County had collected signatures asking for the disbandment of the county. The President later declined the disbandment,” he said.