High court rules next general election should be held in August 2026

The High Court has ruled that the country’s next General Election should be held on 11 August 2026, rather than on the currently scheduled date of 10 August 2027.

In a judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Mugure Thande said the Constitution requires the presidential election to be held on the second Tuesday of August in the fifth year following the previous General Election.

The country last held a General Election on 9 August 2022. The judge said the fifth year began on 9 August 2026, making 11 August 2026 the constitutionally required date.

“The correct interpretation of Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution is that the second Tuesday in the fifth year with regard to the next presidential election must mean 11th August 2026,” Justice Thande said.

The case was brought by petitioners Owiso Owiso, Ashioya Biko and Khelef Khalifa.

They argued that the Constitution requires elections to take place within the fifth year after the previous poll, rather than after five full years have elapsed.

The petitioners also argued that postponing the election until 2027 would violate constitutional provisions governing the calculation of time.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) opposed the petition.

It said moving the election forward by almost a year would shorten the terms of elected leaders and create conflicts with other constitutional provisions, including those relating to the tenure of county assembly members.

The commission also argued that the Constitution envisages all six elective positions being contested on the same day under a predictable electoral timetable.

Justice Thande rejected those arguments, saying the Constitution must be read as a whole because it places presidential, parliamentary, gubernatorial and county assembly elections within a single electoral cycle.

She ruled that the Constitution fixes the date of the presidential election and leaves the electoral commission with no discretion to schedule it on another date.

The court also found that the IEBC’s Election Operation Plan 2025-2027, which scheduled the next General Election for 10 August 2027, was inconsistent with the Constitution because it placed the vote outside the fifth year following the last election.

The judge declared that holding the presidential election on any date other than 11 August 2026 would be unconstitutional.

However, she suspended the effect of the declaration until after the next General Election, saying an immediate change would be impractical because election preparations had been based on the August 2027 timetable.

“To grant the order as sought will be to grant an order that is logistically impossible to implement,” Justice Thande said.

The ruling means the current electoral timetable remains unchanged unless a higher court overturns the decision on appeal.

The court also ruled that while the Constitution provides for the timing of elections, it does not expressly guarantee the president a fixed five year term, holding that the election date is determined by constitutional provisions rather than the duration of a president’s tenure.