Aspiring Members of Parliament and Members of County Assembly in the 2022 General Election have all reasons to smile after the High Court threw out the University degree requirement.
The High Court declared section 22 of the Election Act that requires aspirants for Parliamentary and MCAs seats to have a degree from a recognised university as unconstitutional.
The court on Friday, October 15, found there was no public participation towards the enactment of the said provision.
A lobby group dubbed Sheria Mtaani had moved to court seeking to quash the degree requirement for aspiring MPs and MCAs in the upcoming 2022 General Election.
Through Lawyer Danstan Omari, the lobby group argued that the law could lock out aspirants who had already started engaging the electorate in preparations for the 2022 elections.
“That the General Election which should by law be held on the second Tuesday of August 2022 are fast approaching as IEBC makes preparations and directives to political parties to propose its candidates for the six elective positions thus the need for the court to urgently and expeditiously deal and determine the constitutional controversy,” Omari said.
According to Omari, the suspension of the 2020 academic calendar brought about by COVID-19 had significantly disrupted the academic progressions of a majority of aspirants.
The Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC) had announced that the degree requirement will be mandatory for all aspirants in next year’s General Election.
The announcement by Wafula Chebukati led commission had seen some seating and aspiring politicians without degree certificates begin to get jittery as the new law was set to take effect and possibly kill their political careers.
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto protested the law saying it was meant to lock out a majority of good leaders.
