Jubilee tops in list of those aspiring to become MPs

At least 1,952 individuals want to be elected to Parliament, according to partial lists of aspirants published by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

A majority of them will be seeking to be on the ballot under the banner of the Jubilee Party, which is dominant in Central Kenya and most parts of the Rift Valley.

According to the data published by the IEBC, the Jubilee Party has a total 1,120 aspirants for the seats in the Senate and the National Assembly including Woman Representatives.

Parliament consists of 349 members in the National Assembly and 67 in the Senate.

Jubilee’s aspirants are more than twice the number of those seeking to vie on ODM, one of the main parties now operating under the National Super Alliance (Nasa).

LARGEST NUMBER

On Saturday, the party said it has a total 8,012 aspirants looking to get its ticket for the next General Election. The large number of aspirants demonstrates the task the party has ahead of it in organising the nominations this Friday.

ODM is the Opposition party with the largest number of parliamentary aspirants at 569 – 60 of whom want to be senators, 446 MPs and 63 Woman Representatives.

Mr Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress is second at 138 – nine for senator, 114 for MP and 15 for Woman Rep, while Mr Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper has 59 – six for senator, 42 for MP and 11 for Woman Rep.

Ford-Kenya, whose party leader is Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetang’ula, has a mere seven aspirants, all of them vying for the party’s ticket for Woman Representative.

The IEBC did not submit to the press lists of the party’s aspirants for the parliamentary positions other than the Woman Representatives.

SMALLER PARTIES

Among the smaller parties with a significant number of aspirants are Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto’s Chama Cha Mashinani and Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua’s Maendeleo Chap Chap. Mr Ruto’s party has 23 aspirants – three for senator, 17 for MP and three for Woman Representative.

Dr Mutua’s party has 12 aspirants – 10 for MP and two for Woman Representative.

Chama cha Mashinani party leader, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, said that two of his biggest supporters, Narok West MP Patrick Ntutu and Dr Peter Koros, gunning for the Narok and Nakuru county governor seats, respectively, were not in the list because they were unopposed.

“That list contains only those people that will participate in the nominations. Mr Ntutu and Dr Koros have direct certificates because they are unopposed,” Governor Ruto told the Nation.

NAMES GAZETTED

However, other parties that have unopposed candidates have their names gazetted by the IEBC.

Narc and its counterpart Narc-Kenya have two and four aspirants respectively, a sign of how far the parties that were dominant in the Mwai Kibaki administration have fallen.

Narc’s two aspirants want to be MPs while Narc Kenya, known as the flower party, has four aspirants seeking to become senators.

Mr Kibaki’s former party PNU also lost its lustre and now has a mere eight aspirants looking to become MPs.