Tobiko gets Kajiado East Jubilee ticket as rival appeals

The unending saga over who should be the Jubilee flag bearer in Kajiado East Constituency has taken another twist when the party’s secretariat gave the nomination certificate to incumbent Peris Tobiko on Wednesday evening.

This happened even as the party’s appeals tribunal prepares to hear a fresh petition Thursday lodged by Kajiado Woman Rep Mary Seneta.

Ms Tobiko who went to Jubilee headquarters accompanied by supporters Wednesday the afternoon was handed the nomination certificate shortly before 7 pm.

Her rival, Ms Seneta, with her supporters in tow, had gone to the headquarters in the morning, where she lodged a complaint citing fresh evidence of vote tampering during the April 25 nominations.

APPEAL

Sources indicate that the appeals tribunal is set to listen and possibly rule on the petition lodged by Ms Seneta on Thursday at afternoon.

The two aspirants have been locked in a bitter feud over who won the nominations.

On the one hand, Ms Tobiko cites results of the nominations, which put her ahead of her rival, while on the other hand Ms Seneta alleges malpractices perpetrated by her opponent denied her victory.

TOBIKO'S VICTORY

Immediately after the nominations Ms Seneta lodged an appeal with Jubilee, which was thrown out, thereby affirming Ms Tobiko’s victory.

Not content with the ruling, Ms Seneta moved to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal which ordered a repeat of nominations in two polling stations in Kitengela.

Ms Seneta defeated Ms Tobiko in the repeat nominations, which were held on May 19 but did not win the overall vote.

The decision by the party to give the certificate to Ms Tobiko late in the day Wednesday caught Ms Seneta and her supporters by surprise as they had expected the issuance to be put on hold until the petition is heard and determined.

The ruling will be highly anticipated as the outcome will have the effect of locking out one of them until 2022.