President Uhuru Kenyatta when he signed into law the Banking (Amendment) Bill, 2015 at State House, Nairobi. He is yet to sign the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017 into law. [Photo: PSCU]President Uhuru Kenyatta is yet to sign into law the recently passed elections amendment bill that was hurriedly passed in Parliament ahead of October 26 presidential poll.This is despite Uhuru's earlier promise that he would immediately sign the bill into law upon landing on his desk. So, why has the President delayed in signing the bill into law? Well, it is a deliberate delay strategy.When MPs passed the Bill, they retained a clause saying the IEBC chairman must hold an advanced law degree and be qualified for the Supreme Court.In the current IEBC, it is only Chair Wafula Chebukati who meets this threshold as none of the commissioners holds a law degree. The IEBC chairman is also the national Returning Officer for the presidential election. Only he can announce results and declare the winner.If he were to quit, any acting commissioner would be challenged in court and probably successfully, reports the Star. Uhuru could, therefore, propose amendments to this clause and the Jubilee-majority Parliament would rubber-stamp his will now that Chebukati on Wednesday said that if the situation doesn't change he would rather resign 'than preside over an election without credibility'.According to the Star, Jubilee plan is to have Kenyatta swiftly return the Bill to Parliament with a memorandum 'suggesting' the chairman need no longer be a lawyer meaning the bar is dropped and any commissioner can declare him the winner, virtually unopposed.MPs would be swiftly be recalled from recess to approve Kenyatta's memo. To overturn a presidential memo, a two-thirds majority is required. This is impossible as NASA is boycotting proceedings and, therefore, whatever the President proposes becomes law.It is also reported that Uhuru delayed from signing the bill to prevent NASA from going to court to challenge the law as it had threatened.

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