The IEBC releases political bombshell..what are the implications?

[Ab-Titchaz]

IEBC firm on party hopper deadline

The move by political parties to hold primaries two days before the proscribed deadline may prove costly after the official elections team on Saturday said it would not recognise candidates nominated after midnight on Friday.

A number of politicians who had lost nominations yesterday said they were defecting to other parties.

These include former Naivasha MP John Mututho, Makueni's Peter Kiilu, assistant minister Gideon Ndambuki, Mombasa gubernatorial candidate Suleiman Shabal and hundreds of other aspirants who had secured nomination certificates on Saturday.

In a terse statement to newsrooms on Saturday, the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission described the nominations carried out after Friday midnight as illegal and put the police on high alert.

"Any person who has not been nominated following party primaries as at midnight last night (Friday) is disqualified and cannot move to another party for a nomination certificate," said the statement.

"Party nominations ended at midnight last night and any nominations ongoing are illegal and against the Elections Act as per the Kenya Gazette Notice No 132 of 28th December 2012," the statement read.

Mr Shabal and the Mombasa senatorial aspirant, Mr Omar Hassan, teamed up to join Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka's Wiper party.

Former ambassador to South Africa Tabitha Seii, who was seeking nomination for a parliamentary seat in Keiyo, also defected to Wiper on Saturday.

After losing to lawyer Daniel Maanzo, Mr Kiilu and Mr Ndambuki, who lost to Education minister Mutula Kilonzo, were said to be headed to The National Alliance (TNA).

According to the commission, any party conducting primaries after the deadline was violating the law, and the commission would not accept those results.

"The police have been notified and are on high alert to investigate those violating the law."

MPs had last month amended the election law to extend the deadline to enable them to party hop from January 4 to Friday, January 18.

Political parties are required to hand over their lists of nominees to the IEBC on Monday. Asked about the move on Saturday, Mr Mututho said he was not worried because he had obtained the certificate by Friday.

"I paid Sh100,000 to Narc by Friday 9.30. I would not know about their processes," he said.

A number of primaries in Nakuru, Nairobi, Siaya, Kisumu, Muhoroni and sections of North Rift had not been concluded by Saturday.

IEBC vice-chairperson Lilian Mahiri-Zaja warned on Saturday that the body would not accept results from parties whose primaries were not finalised on deadline day.

"January 18 is a legal deadline for the nominations, and no party should have carried on with the exercise until yesterday, and any results obtained after the deadline are null and void," she told the Sunday Nation.

Ms Mahiri-Zaja said the law provides for parties to resolve any disputes stemming from the outcome and could do so from yesterday through to 5 pm on Tuesday.

"They have the three days to determine their issues using their own internal mechanisms. And should they exhaust them. With the disagreements unresolved, they can lodge their complaints with the IEBC by 5 pm o Tuesday," she said.

But Wiper secretary-general Mutula Kilonzo dismissed the commission's position, saying it was "dead wrong". Mr Kilonzo, whose nomination for the Makueni Senate seat was declared on Saturday, said parties were only resolving disputes, not conducting primaries.

"Repeats are part of internal dispute resolution mechanisms for parties. The IEBC deadline is just administrative and not cast in stone. That is why they have extended it several times."

However, Section 13 of the Elections Act requires political parties to nominate their candidates for an election at least 45 days before the General Election which was January 18.

An official of the URP electoral board, Mr Bill Ruto, described the electoral commission's declaration as "ridiculous". "The Supreme Court will have to overturn this as much of the country is still in the queue to vote now," he told the Sunday Nation.

But TNA secretary-general Onyango Oloo supported the electoral commission's statement and asked it to crack down on ODM which, he said, was conducting its primary elections on Saturday.

"That is the law. and we have complied with it. We finished our nominations by 10 pm yesterday (Friday). All we are doing today is verification and addressing arising disputes."

To secure their place on a ballot, some candidates in big political parties had secretly obtained nomination certificates from small parties in advance, but which were signed on Friday.

The challenge then would be to explain how they ran in two party primaries at the same time.

The outcome of the primaries has given the presidential campaigns a new face with many allies of the top candidates falling by the wayside.

This effectively paved the way for new entrants in races as aspirants assembled their arsenals for the March 4 battle.

In some cases, voters rejected candidates seen to be backed by powerful quarters.

An attempt to push through Prime Minister Raila Odinga's elder brother, Dr Oburu Oginga, as the Siaya governor nominee was greeted with hostility, which has seen the party suspend the nomination result even as there are fears that it might lead to voter apathy if approved.

In President Kibaki's Othaya backyard, voters rejected lawyer Gichuki Mugambi who was endorsed and supported by First Family members Jimmy and Judy Kibaki and instead handed the TNA nomination to influential businesswoman Mary Wambui.

Jubilee presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta also suffered a blow when voters rejected his Kirinyaga pointman and successor at the Treasury, Mr Njeru Githae.

And Mr Odinga's allies like Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo was resolutely shown the door in Gem. The nomination of Eldoret North MP William Ruto's ally Isaac Ruto as the URP Bomet governor candidate sparked acrimony with claims the former Chepalungu MP, who was pitted against his Konoin counterpart Julius Kones, was being imposed by the Jubilee presumptive running mate.

"There were a lot of malpractices. I challenge the URP elections board not to accept these results, or else I defect to another party or support another aspirant for the seat," Dr Kones threatened.

The two had wedged a bruising battle for the seat with initial reports that Dr Kones, the soft-spoken former university Maths lecturer, had won.

The poll, which was expected to take a day, has stretched up to today, and the new headache now is how to stem the tide of rebellion occasioned by the fallouts.

According to the IEBC calender, nominations for presidential candidates will be held on January 29 and 30 and they will be required to indicate who will deputise them in their nomination papers. "Nomination papers submitted by presidential candidates shall include their nominee for deputy president who is qualified for nomination for election as president."

In the case of Members of Parliament, Senators and Women Representatives, political parties and independent candidates will be nominated on January 31 and February 1.


IEBC firm on party hopper deadline - CAMPAIGN NEWS - elections.nation.co.ke

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Narc-Kenya presidential candidate Martha Karua has urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to enforce the deadline on party primaries as per the law. IEBC had set the deadline for Friday midnight.


While addressing a Sunday service at Kawangware PAG Church in Nairobi, Ms Karua said her party carried out the exercise on eight days ahead of the January 18 deadline while other parties scrambled to meet it amidst confusion and wrangles.

"Last week, we were issued with the certificates and we have been surprised by the manner in which the media is going on about two parties' nominations as though the rest of us are not in the race," she said.

Ms Karua urged IEBC to remain form on the primaries deadline and enforce the provisions of the law.

"Kenyans should know that the same way we have adhered with the rules, we will keep to the promises we are making to them and in the same spirit, we would deliver them within the time frames promised," Ms Karua said.

"We are organised and were ahead of other parties to spell out the nomination rules and our candidates are now ready and campaigning" she added.

Under the Cord and Jubilee Alliances, the Wiper Democratic Movement, the Orange Democratic Movement, The National Alliance party and the United Republican Party had scheduled their nominations for January 17 with some extending the exercise to the next day.

Big losers from the parties hurriedly defected to other parties to secure their places in the March 4, General Election.

At Narc Kenya, the party closed its doors to defectors by 9pm on the deadline day having received a number of people from other parties.

Ms Karua said the law should be amended to stop losers from defecting at least three months before the elections.

"However, those who moved before the cut-off date were allowed to do so by the law but Kenyans should remember that this will determine their future and that it is not a small matter," Ms Karua said.

On Saturday the party's media liaison officer Lilian Lelei told the Nation they could not entertain latecomers as they had to get their documents prepared by the cut-off time.

Ms Lelei said some attempted to go against the legal provision and approached the offices on Sunday morning.

"We told them we could not accept them but welcomed them to support Martha Karua – our party leaders bid in the presidency," she said.

 

[Mzee wa Usafi]

Huyu mama na muunga mkono kwa dhati. Kwani yeye kaona mbali kuwa sasa ni muda mzuri wa kujenga chama sio kuangalia kushinda Urais tu!!

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

IEBC gives more time amid confusion


By Standard Team

Nairobi, Kenya: The national electoral body extended the deadline for political parties to submit their final list of candidates by seven hours as confusion and uncertainty reigned among them.

At the end of a turbulent day for political parties, only presidential candidate Martha Karua's Narc Kenya had submitted its final list and circulated a copy to media houses.

In Orange Democratic Movement, there was a standoff over whether to give the Siaya Governor ticket to Prime Minister Raila Odinga's elder brother Dr Oburu Oginga, or newcomer William Oduol, who is believed to have won the nomination contest.

Early in the day, Raila's last-born sister, Ruth Odinga stood down in the contest for Kisumu Governor seat ostensibly for peace and unity's sake. There has been unease among Raila's supporters in Nyanza over claims that either he himself or officials of his party had given preference to his siblings, a fact that some said could dent his own campaign for Presidency.

The party cancelled two news conferences set for 3pm and 5pm on Monday, in which the Oburu-Oduol verdict was expected to be read. The party was last night expected to hold another late news conference to address this issue.

Unconfirmed reports however had it that with Oduol reportedly having turned down the offer to be Oburu's running mate, and with the Odinga family grappling with the strain caused by the conflict of interest in the matter, a decision had been taken by the bigwigs to bite the bullet and give the ticket to the elder Jaramogi Odinga's scion.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission gave the parties up to midnight to submit the final lists and today Kenyans wake up the reality that the exercise was somehow completed, some vial e-mail.

ODM and United Republican Party leaders were still engrossed in meetings as the earlier 5pm deadline, which only a handful of parties met, lapsed. The Standard established members of ODM Elections Board had for two days camped at a secret location in Kitengela as aggrieved aspirants hunted for them around the city.

"They are at the Millennium Hotel in Kitengela where they are finalising the list that will be emailed to IEBC before midnight," revealed a source last evening.

Revised deadline

IEBC, which is led by lawyer Ahmed Issack Hassan, revised the 5pm deadline after many parties reported they were not ready with lists. On Monday, political parties cried foul after it emerged they had not complied with the IEBC requirement that they submit names of those aspiring to be Governors and their running mates as a package.

Drawing the final list for deputy Governors served as a litmus text for the sponsoring parties, because they had ignored the position during the nominations, opting to instead leave the slots open as a bait for those gunning for them.

The constitution requires that a Governor names a running mate during elections but it appears parties ignored that requirement. Major parties were experiencing a headache scrutinising personal details of names presented for the running mate positions in the 47 counties.

"There is no room for errors as we have to pick people who are also appearing on our party lists at the Registar of Political Parties," said a URP official last evening.

Outside IEBC offices along Nairobi's University Way where the commission had pitched tents, only six small parties managed to deliver their lists on time. On Monday, the ODM Appeals Board led by former MP Joseph Kiangoi took journalists on a wild goose promising to address the disputes that led to violence in Nyanza and Nairobi on Sunday.

"We are sorry the press conference has been moved from 3pm to 5pm," said Media Liaison officer Salim Lone. Journalists returned to Serena Hotel where they waited until 6pm before ODM announced indefinite postponement.

Same story

It was the same story for Mr Uhuru Kenyatta's The National Alliance whose officials called journalists to Silver Springs Hotel before directing them to another venue where nothing was taking place. From there the reporters were redirected to another hotel in the city where they found former Kasarani MP William Omondi allegedly defecting from ODM to TNA.

URP officials conceded they were facing difficulties in generating the list that must correspond with their membership register submitted to the Registrar earlier.

A URP contender for Governor disclosed they were having a difficult time, as many aspirants for Governor have not settled on their deputies. URP chairman Francis Ole Kaparo admitted party officials were frantically working on a final list acceptable to all.

"Honestly speaking it is very difficult, the electoral process is totally different from the past. It is very complicated and a lot of aspirants might be locked out of the race due to technicalities," he stated.

He continued: "Unlike in the past where the party card guaranteed one membership, now names of members are keyed into the computer and lodged with the Registrar of Political Parties."

Kaparo spoke after some of the aspirants who turned up to pick certificates engaged in fights with opponents. Others accused party officials of rigging in favour of their preferred nominees. However, Kaparo absolved himself and his colleagues from any blame, arguing that no cases had been brought to their attention.

"In every contest there must be disputes, despite the limited time we had, we have tried to resolve the disputes amicably," he said.

The party primaries were rocked by violence, especially in Nyanza, where youths engaged police in running battles in Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya and Kisumu.

There was a beehive of activity as aggrieved aspirants lodged complaints at IEBC at the tents erected outside Anniversary Towers. The majority of visitors at the tents lodged complaints.

Standard Digital News - Kenya : IEBC gives more time amid confusion