{"id":149203,"date":"2026-08-08T09:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/former-lsk-boss-faith-odhiambo-insists-election-timeline-ruling-does-not-trigger-constitutional-crisis\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:03:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:03:02","slug":"former-lsk-boss-faith-odhiambo-insists-election-timeline-ruling-does-not-trigger-constitutional-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/former-lsk-boss-faith-odhiambo-insists-election-timeline-ruling-does-not-trigger-constitutional-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Former LSK Boss Faith Odhiambo insists election timeline ruling does not trigger constitutional crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 8 \u2013 The former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo has urged Kenyans to approach the Malindi High Court judgment on the 2026 presidential election timeline with calm, saying the ruling should not be interpreted as triggering a constitutional crisis or an immediate change of government.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Odhiambo said the judgment was a serious interpretation of constitutional provisions on electoral timelines but stressed that the court\u2019s actual orders must be distinguished from its findings.<\/p>\n

Odhiambo said the court held that Article 136(2)(a), which provides for a presidential election on the second Tuesday of August \u201cin every fifth year\u201d, means the election should be held in the fifth year and not after it.<\/p>\n

Based on the court\u2019s computation under Article 259(5)(c), she said, the date in question was August 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

However, Odhiambo noted that the court did not order the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to hold an election immediately, despite its finding on the constitutional timeline.<\/p>\n

She said the court declined to issue a mandatory order after finding that an immediate election was logistically impossible and could result in national instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore importantly, the Court suspended the declaration of invalidity until after the next general election, expressly so that IEBC may correct the defect,\u201d Odhiambo said.<\/p>\n

She argued that the suspended remedy should not be interpreted as creating a vacuum in government or removing the President from office.<\/p>\n

\u201cA suspended remedy is not an invitation to manufacture a vacuum in government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Odhiambo further said the judgment did not convert the presidency into a caretaker arrangement or restrict the exercise of presidential powers.<\/p>\n

She pointed to Article 142, saying it provides for continuity by stipulating that the President remains in office until the next President is sworn in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe constitutional order does not collapse merely because a court identifies a contested interpretation of an election timeline,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Odhiambo also cautioned against treating the court\u2019s declaration as equivalent to a mandatory order, noting that the judgment itself distinguished between declaratory relief and orders compelling a particular action.<\/p>\n

\u201cA declaration is not a mandatory order in disguise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The former LSK boss said the ruling nevertheless raises significant constitutional questions concerning fixed election dates, computation of constitutional timelines and the terms of Parliament and county governments.<\/p>\n

She said the issues should be subjected to a calm and principled appellate process, rather than partisan political interpretations.<\/p>\n

According to Odhiambo, the judgment should be neither dismissed as irrelevant nor exaggerated as having already displaced Kenya\u2019s constitutional government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rule of law requires fidelity to both the Court\u2019s reasoning and its actual orders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She maintained that elections must not be left to political convenience, but cautioned that constitutional remedies should equally not be administered in a way that creates avoidable instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution is not self-destructive but designed to secure both accountability and continuity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Odhiambo called for an urgent and institutionally responsible legal response to the judgment, noting that the ruling remains subject to appeal.<\/p>\n

She said until the decision is varied, stayed or overturned, it should be understood within the context of the remedies granted by the court, the limitations it imposed and the appellate mechanisms provided under the law.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 8 \u2013 The former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo has urged Kenyans to approach the Malindi High Court judgment on the 2026 presidential election timeline with calm, saying the ruling should not be interpreted as triggering a constitutional crisis or an immediate change of government. Odhiambo said the judgment […]<\/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-149203","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\/149203","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=149203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}