A Malindi High Court has ruled that Kenya’s next General Election should be held on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, and not in 2027 as previously anticipated.
In a landmark judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Mugure Thande declared that conducting the presidential election on any date other than the second Tuesday of August in the fifth year would be unconstitutional.
However, the judge suspended the implementation of the ruling until after the next General Election, giving the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) time to address the constitutional issues raised.
Court Says Different Election Date Would Be Unconstitutional
Justice Thande held that scheduling the election beyond August 2026 would violate several provisions of the Constitution, including Articles 2, 3, 10, 136, 142, 249 and 259.
The court further ruled that any presidential election conducted on a different date would be null and void.
“It is quite evident that the date set by the second respondent (IEBC) for the next General Election is the second Tuesday in August after the fifth year and not in the fifth year as stipulated in the Constitution,” the judgment stated.
President’s Term Not Exactly Five Years, Court Says
The judgment also addressed the long-standing debate over the President’s constitutional term.
Justice Thande ruled that Article 136(2)(a) does not grant the President a fixed five-year term and that Article 142 should not be interpreted to extend the presidency beyond the constitutional election timeline.
Despite declaring the current interpretation unconstitutional, the court suspended the effect of the ruling until after the 2027 General Election to avoid disrupting the country’s electoral process.
The judge dismissed all other prayers in the petition and directed that each party should bear its own legal costs.
The decision stems from a constitutional petition challenging how Kenya calculates its presidential election cycle and could significantly influence future electoral timelines.