{"id":113922,"date":"2025-04-19T11:03:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T11:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/04\/19\/paka-mielo-disco-lawyer-sparks-fifth-year-election-controversy\/"},"modified":"2025-04-19T11:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T11:03:46","slug":"paka-mielo-disco-lawyer-sparks-fifth-year-election-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/paka-mielo-disco-lawyer-sparks-fifth-year-election-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Paka Mielo Disco\u2019 lawyer sparks fifth year election controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 19 \u2014 Constitutional lawyer Willis Otieno has sparked fresh debate the next presidential election asserting that the State House race should be held in August 2026\u2014not 2027 as widely expected.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Citing Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution, Otieno argues that the requirement presidential elections occur \u201con the second Tuesday in August, in every fifth year,\u201d overrules the expectation that a presidential term should last a maximum five years.<\/p>\n

He emphasizes that the phrase \u201cin every fifth year\u201d means elections should be held within, not after, the fifth year following the last election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution is very clear\u2014elections are to be held in the fifth year, not after five years. That means August 2026, not 2027,\u201d Otieno argued in a post on Friday.<\/p>\n

Otieno, known from his famous \u2018paka mielo disco<\/em>\u2018 rant during the 2022 presidential election petition at the Supreme Court, argued that having held an election on August 9, 2022, Kenya should hold the next election on August 11, 2026\u2014the second Tuesday of August in the fifth year since the last poll.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a constitutional calendar, not a political one. The idea that we can extend terms based on swearing-in dates goes against the letter and spirit of the Constitution,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

The lawyer also drew on historical precedents to support his claim, noting that President Uhuru Kenyatta assumed office on April 9, 2013, yet the next election occurred on August 8, 2017\u2014before the completion of a five-year term. <\/p>\n

A similar pattern followed Kenyatta\u2019s second term, which began on November 28, 2017, but ended with elections held on August 9, 2022.<\/p>\n

Presidential term<\/h2>\n

Otieno\u2019s stance has reignited discussions about the tension between Article 136, which governs election dates, and Article 142(1), which outlines presidential terms.<\/p>\n

Critics argue that the five-year term of a president should guide the electoral timeline, potentially pushing the next election to 2027 to complete the full term from the 2022 swearing-in.<\/p>\n

Economist Mohamed Wehliye, among others, challenged Otieno\u2019s interpretation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs the fifth year a calendar year or does it refer to the fifth anniversary of the election? A strict reading would require judicial interpretation,\u201d he contended.<\/p>\n

Otieno remained firm in his view, warning against what he calls \u201cterm extension by calendar manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a Republic, not a dynasty. If your only path to power is extending terms through calendar tricks, then you\u2019ve already lost the people,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

It was not clear whether Otieno would move to the Constitutional Court for judicial interpretation to clear the matter.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 19 \u2014 Constitutional lawyer Willis Otieno has sparked fresh debate the next presidential election asserting that the State House race should be held in August 2026\u2014not 2027 as widely expected. Citing Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution, Otieno argues that the requirement presidential elections occur \u201con the second Tuesday in August, in every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}