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
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