On Friday, April 18, 2025, lawyer Willis Otieno sparked public discourse on social media platforms by suggesting that the next general elections should be held in August 2026.
This opinion generated mixed reactions, particularly because the elections are currently scheduled for August 2027.
Wilis argues that elections should be held in August 2026 because Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution states that a presidential election shall take place on the second Tuesday of August every five years.
He interprets this to mean counting the first year from the last election held in 2022. Therefore, 2023 is the second year, 2024 the third year, 2025 the fourth year, and 2026 the fifth year.
“So, the second Tuesday of August 2026 is when the election must be held. Waiting until August 2027 means you’re starting elections in the 6th year, not the 5th. You’re effectively adding an unconstitutional extension to the term of office. That violates Article 1 (sovereignty of the people) and Article 2(2) (no one can claim or exercise state authority beyond what the Constitution allows),” said Willis.
Wilis Otieno Says Elections Should be Held in 2026
However, several legal experts disagree with Otieno’s interpretation. Lawyer Mwaura Muroki contends that a full year has 365 days, and thus, those days should be taken into account when counting years.
“The law provides that a general election shall be held on the first Tuesday of August in the fifth year. The last election occurred in 2022 on the first Tuesday. Logically, this means we count five years from that first Tuesday in 2022, which brings us to 2027,” Muroki stated.
He also argues that Willis’s interpretation is more political than logical. “In my view, that’s a non-starter argument. The fifth year falls directly in 2027,” Muroki added.
Lawyer and political governance expert Javas Bigambo agrees that Wilis Otieno’s argument has merit concerning what constitutes an election cycle in Kenya, as stipulated in the Constitution. He recalled that the first election under the new Constitution, initially scheduled for August 2012, was delayed and ultimately held on March 4, 2013, as determined by the Supreme Court.
At the same time, Javas notes that while Wilis’s argument is valid, it does not alone justify conducting the elections in August 2026.
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He suggests that the interpretation of this matter may require the Supreme Court’s judgment.
“I think it is a proper judicial-political debate, and it may be appropriate for an advisory opinion to be sought from the Supreme Court to resolve this issue,” Bigambo said. He further emphasised that those who support Willis’s viewpoint can have the Supreme Court clarify the matter through an advisory opinion, potentially sought by the Attorney General.
Javas expressed similar sentiments to Mwaura, stating that for election cycle calculations, one must count years from the time an election is held, not based on a calendar year from January to December.
“For example, if the elections happened in August 2022, we would count from August 2022 to August 2023 as one year, then August 2023 to August 2024 as the second year, and so on,” Javas explained.
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This debate over the timing of general elections also emerged in 2018 when Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah petitioned the court for the elections to be held in August 2021.
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In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision, which stated, “With the formula and applying Article 259 (5)(c), the question of subsequent elections becomes easy to determine. Applying it, the second Tuesday in August, in the fifth year from March 4, 2013, fell on August 8, 2017.”
The Court further elaborated that “the fifth year” means that each election year starts on the second Tuesday in August and ends on the eve of the second Tuesday in August of the following year to complete one year. Thus, counting 365 days for one year and considering the exact month from one year to the next: the first year spans from August 8, 2017, to August 8, 2018; the second year from August 8, 2018, to August 8, 2019; the third year from August 8, 2019, to August 8, 2020; the fourth year from August 8, 2020, to August 8, 2021; and the fifth year from August 8, 2021, to August 8, 2022. Following this, the next general election date would then be set for August 11, 2022.
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