- Willis Otieno claims the next presidential poll should be held in 2026—not 2027.
- He refers to Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution as the legal basis.
- Otieno says elections must be held in the fifth year, not after five years.
- He backs his view with a year-by-year count from the August 2022 election.
- Otieno believes Article 136 overrides Article 142 regarding timelines.
Renowned constitutional lawyer Willis Evans Otieno has stirred up a national conversation after stating that Kenya’s next presidential election should be conducted in 2026, not 2027 as widely expected.
In a statement posted on April 18, 2025, Otieno referred directly to Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution, which directs that presidential elections be held on the second Tuesday of August every fifth year.
“This is not a matter of opinion—it’s a constitutional instruction,” Otieno emphasized. “The Constitution clearly says ‘in the fifth year,’ not ‘after five years’.”
Year-by-Year Breakdown of the Election Cycle
Otieno broke down his interpretation by counting the years since the last election: 2022 – Year 1, 2023 – Year 2 ,2024 – Year 3, 2025 – Year 4, 2026 – Year 5
Using this calculation, he concludes that the appropriate election date falls on August 11, 2026—the second Tuesday of August in that fifth year.
Legal Hierarchy: Article 136 vs. Article 142
The lawyer further clarified that while Article 142 outlines the president’s term as five years from swearing-in, it does not dictate the election date. Instead, he insists that Article 136 governs when the people head to the ballot—and that provision, according to him, must take legal priority.
His take has ignited mixed reactions from legal scholars and political commentators, with some agreeing on the interpretation, while others say the timeline should follow the president’s swearing-in, not the election day.
As debate grows, the question of whether Kenyans will vote in 2026 or 2027 is now firmly in the public arena—and may soon demand a formal interpretation from the courts or electoral authorities.
