GARY NKOMBO AND OVER 100 INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES WILL NOT CONTEST IN THE 2026 ELECTIONS BECAUSE OF BILL 7 🔥
Bill 7 (Act No. 13 of 2025) fundamentally changes the rule for independent candidates by moving up the deadline to leave a political party.
Here is the exact requirement under the new law:
“You must not have been a member of any political party for at least two months immediately before NOMINATION DAY”.
Previously: The 2-month countdown started from the GENERAL ELECTION DAY Now The countdown starts from the date you file your nomination papers.
(ECZ) set the nomination deadline for parliamentary candidates as May 20, 2026. To qualify, anyone wishing to run as an independent must have resigned from their political party by March 20, 2026 .
This creates a major practical consequence for Members of Parliament who want to run as independents.
Under Article 72 of the Constitution (which remains in effect), a sitting MP who resigns from their political party automatically loses their parliamentary seat immediately .
This means an MP intending to run as an independent must choose between:
1. Resigning from their party by March 20, 2026 (and immediately losing their job as an MP).
2. Staying in their party past March 20, 2026, which would disqualify them from running as an independent in August .
As such most of the independent candidates were and are still part of a political party on the deadline 20 May 2026