The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have said it will announce the exact date of the next general elections once it completes consultations with other stakeholders to what it termed “to end the anxiety.”

“The commission is consulting within and without to be able to make a decision on this matter and very soon we will be able to make an announcement which we think will set the date properly and will end the anxiety,” said the IEBC Chairman Issack Hassan.

Hassan said the commission wrote to President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga asking if they intended to dissolve the coalition government for elections to be held this year, but not received a reply.

“We actually wrote to the principals and asked them, if you cannot dissolve the coalition this year please let us know which date you intend to do that but we did not get any reply. In the absence of the reply from the two coalition principals, it leaves us with no choice but to come up with an election date.”

The 10th Parliament legislators were sworn in on January 14, 2008, their term ends on January 14, 2013.

This means IEBC will set the election date within 60 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly at the end of its term as stipulated under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Early this year, the high court gave options of when the election would be held:  if the two partners dissolve the coalition government or at the end of the term of 10th Parliament. [Read: Election date yet to be known as High Court gives options westfm.co.ke/mobile/index.php]

The commission is further going to conduct civic education on voter education on the new electoral boundaries for thirty days apart from a mock poll in Kajiado and Malindi.

“This mock election will help us learn our level of preparedness and the level of preparedness of the Kenyans themselves and any other participants,” he said.