Parties set tough rules for aspirants

Political parties have set stringent rules, including disqualification, for candidates who buy votes during nominations set to begin in December.

According to some of the nomination rules seen by the Nation, aspirants who take part in vote buying and violence during the nominations will be disqualified from the process and risk being suspended by the various parties.

Political parties have prepared two sets of rules. One deals with internal party elections while the second deals with the identification and nomination of candidates for elections at both the county and national levels.

Parties will require their candidates to pass integrity tests before they can be nominated, including being free of serving a jail term exceeding six months for criminal activities and having been cleared of any form of corruption or abuse of office.

Besides the rules, the political outfits are setting up appeals boards to avert possible fallouts after nominations as has been witnessed in the past.

Most parties — including the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), The National Alliance (TNA), the United Republican Party, Narc-Kenya and the United Democratic Forum, whose nomination rules the Nation has seen — will conduct their nominations through secret ballot.

All the parties have also formed national elections boards that will conduct the nominations.

On Wednesday, parties rushed to file their nomination rules and regulations with the registrar of political parties, Ms Lucy Ndung’u, to avoid being locked out of the elections. (READ: Parties rush to beat nominees’ deadline)

The major parties have the most stringent rules, including high nomination fees for those seeking their tickets for the March 4, 2013, polls.

Ms Ndung’u on Wednesday, however, warned the parties that their nomination rules would be void if they were not in line with the Constitution and the Elections Act.

She also said that parties would be required to follow their rules during the primaries to be conducted from December 4 to January 17.

The parties have also imposed fees running into thousands of shillings for those who wish to appeal the outcome of nominations.

Aspirants who wish to contest the ODM nominations, for instance, will be required to pay up to Sh100,000, if they choose to appeal up to the national level.

TNA will require those seeking the party’s nomination to be seconded by other registered members of the party.

The minimum number of seconders is 10,000 for president, 2,000 for governor, 1,000 for women representative, MP and senator, and 500 for county assembly representative.

ODM, on the other hand, will require that the aspirants “demonstrate active participation in party programmes six months prior to seeking nomination” unless the national executive committee exempts the individual.

The Orange party has also locked out anyone under the age of 35 years from seeking the party’s presidential nomination.