It’s going to be bad news for those who do not meet the integrity criteria because parties will not clear them.
And even if they do, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has set tough integrity standards of its own which candidates must satisfy before they can contest.
EACC has given aspirants for all political offices a deadline of tomorrow to apply for vetting.
On Tuesday, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said it would release the list of successful applicants on Wednesday while The National Alliance (TNA) has already started sending notifications through SMS.
ODM national elections board chairman Franklin Bett warned that some aspirants who did not make the cut would not be cleared.
“Not everybody who applied for nomination on our ticket has been cleared. If you don’t have the specified requirements as per the law then we will not forward your name to the IEBC who will then disqualify our party for nominating an unqualified candidate,” Mr Bett said.
He said the party had cleaned its nomination list of aspirants who did not meet the criteria specified in the law and that the list would be published on Wednesday.
Cord presidential aspirant Raila Odinga sought to clarify the nomination puzzle in the coalition when he said that “each party will do its nominations separately.”
“But in some areas, we will have joint nominations,” the Prime Minister said on Tuesday at the Orange party’s headquarters, in response to some aspirants from Lower Eastern who had protested against joint nominations.
Wiper secretary-general Mutula Kilonzo insisted that Cord joint nominations would only be held “where necessary’’ in the key counties.
“Cord has already provided for a procedure for nomination and those talking about joint nominations in all the counties are engaging in a non-issue. Joint nominations will be held where no party can show pre-dominance and certainty of producing a Cord candidate,’’ he said.
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said Cord would pay back money spent in the campaigns to aspirants who step down.
The VP and Mr Odinga said it would be suicidal for Cord affiliates to field separatecandidates in Western as it will give UDF an upper hand.
TNA secretary-general Onyango Oloo said his party was concerned about venues for nomination which are likely to be shared because all parties would hold their primaries on the same day.
URP’s Aden Duale said the party had ordered ballot papers from China. He said they submitted names of aspirants to the Chinese firm on Tuesday and were expectingthe papers to be delivered on Tuesday next week.
“We have printed the ballot papers in China and they arrive on 15th (next Tuesday). We are submitting the names today to China because we have concluded the vetting process,” he said.
Finance minister Njeru Githae accused parties of killing democracy by giving direct nominations to aspirants.
He claimed some candidates had been handed nomination certificates even before the primaries were held. “When you give direct nominations, you lock out others from participating in primaries. This is tantamount to killing democracy,” he said on Tuesday in Kutus Town.
On vetting, EACC, which is mandated by law to clear those vying for public office, is expected to issue a list of those who qualify.
EACC spokesman Nicholas Simani said they had been vetting aspirants since last month and had extended the exercise to Thursday due to the large numbers of applicants. (External
The EACC requires aspirants to declare whether they have been accused of abuse of office, corruption, failure to declare their wealth, dismissal from office on integrity grounds, and any crime committed while outside the country.
The Self-Declaration Form avers in part: “Answers to the following questions are mandatory. If yes to any question, you must provide additional information on asupplementary sheet.”
Mr Oloo sought to assure TNA aspirants that the party would not block aspirants on flimsy grounds.
URP chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the party would not publish the list of aspirants who had met the qualifications to run on its ticket due to financial limitations.
“We are not going to publish the list because it will cost a lot of money. We have asked aspirants to call 7705,” he said.
Mr Duale said only “one or two” aspirants were asked to verify their academic certificates, adding that they had concluded the vetting process and submitted names of aspirants to a Chinese firm preparing ballot papers.
ODM requires aspirants to demonstrate ability to articulate any two objectives of the party manifesto, state their commitment and passion to the party, its ideology, policies and programmes and demonstrate that they are “disciplined and dependable” party members.
TNA requires aspirants to state whether they have been subject to disciplinary actions undertaken by any tribunal or organisation, whether they have ever been suspended or expelled from a post-secondary institution or discharged, suspended or asked to resign from any employment.
UDF aspirants are required to submit original academic certificates confirming they have attained post-secondary education, certificates of good conduct from the CID, certificate of compliance from the anti-graft body, clearances from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Higher Education Loans Board, credit reference bureau and professional associations such as the Law Society of Kenya. - Daily Nation
