Wiper directed to nominate Wavinya Ndeti in Machakos

The Wiper party has been directed to urgently nominate Ms Wavinya Ndeti as its candidate for governor in Machakos County.

The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) has ruled that though the recently repeated Wiper nominations for Machakos governor were not free and fair, it would be pointless to order another repeat because her main challenger is now vying as an independent candidate.

Mr Benard Muia Kiala, Machakos deputy governor, had filed the application arguing that the party had in the repeat nominations on May 6, contravened its own constitution and nomination rules.

The tribunal, while declaring that the primary election was not free and fair, and thus null and void, said that Mr Kiala has since moved on to become an independent candidate, leaving Ms Ndeti as the party’s only aspirant for the position.

“If we ordered a repeat nomination exercise, at this stage, Ms Ndeti would be competing against herself. The party would have committed funds to that process while Mr Kiala would not benefit from the repeat nomination because he is a registered independent candidate,” ruled the tribunal.

ONLY CANDIDATE

At the same time, the tribunal ruled, Wiper members in Machakos would be queuing to vote for only one candidate on the ballot, Ms Ndeti.

“It would be an exercise in futility. The tribunal would have issued an order in vain yet court orders are never issued in vain,” said thetribunal.

The tribunal therefore directed Wiper to urgently directly nominate its preferred candidate while taking into account the findings of their judgment.

The Machakos nominations were first held on April 30, but the tribunal invalidated the process for having been conducted in violation of the tribunal orders on April 28.

In a judgment dated May 5, the tribunal directed a fresh nomination within 48 hours. The party complied and held a repeat nomination on May 6 which the tribunal also invalidated.