The Judiciary committee on elections has stated that it is expecting more petitions in the next general election.
This is because of the interest expressed by many people towards gubernatorial and ward representative seats.
Justice David Majanja, who is the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, said that in the last general election, the judiciary handled 188 out of the expected 500 election petition cases they had set as the target.
The committee has not yet set its 2017 target but already has forwarded a budget of Sh200 million towards handling petitions in 2017. Parliament is yet to approve the budget.
“Election in this country is becoming more and more competitive and closely contested and many people are more informed on the positions in the devolved units and the power they wield, therefore attracting many candidates,” said Justice Majanja.
Justice Majanja, the presiding judge of Kisumu said that currently, they are training judges and magistrates on how to handle election petitions, adding that they will be forced to hire more magistrates during that period to take care of the expected high number.