Appeals stand in way of Wiper, Jubilee victors

Wavinya Ndeti gives her acceptance speech after being declared the Machakos Wiper party gubernatorial candidate on May 6, 2017. Her rival Bernard Kiala has disputed her victory. PHOTO | STEPHEN MUTHINI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Kiala claimed that the party's list was not congruent to the number of voters who turned up on May 7 to vote.
  • In Rangwe constituency, Dr Lilian Gogo trounced five rivals to clinch the ODM ticket but the win was challenged.

The Wiper Democratic Party suffered another setback after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal restrained it from forwarding the name of its Machakos governorship candidate to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for gazettement.

Though Wavinya Ndeti, the former leader of Chama Cha Uzalendo, won the repeat nomination, her opponent Bernard Kiala returned to the tribunal with allegations of rigging, voter bribery and pre-marking of ballots a day before the primary.

Mr Kiala, the current Machakos deputy governor, claimed the party's list did not match the number of voters who turned up on May 7 to vote.

TRIBUNAL GRANTS REQUEST

Ms Ndeti garnered over 230,000 votes while the party list showed 90,000 registered members.

Mr Kiala's lawyer, Omwanza Ombati, told the tribunal that there was voter apathy and countless forms of electoral fraud.

"Owing to the monumental malpractices that dogged this nomination, I urge the tribunal to stop Wiper from presenting the name of Ms Ndeti for publication as [the] gubernatorial candidate for Machakos," Mr Ombati said.

Granting the interim relief, chairman Kyalo Mbobu directed Mr Kiala to advertise the case in three local print media newspapers to enable the party and Ms Ndeti to file responses.

Directions will be given today on the way forward.

WIN CHALLENGED

At the same time, the Jubilee Party was ordered to issue nomination certificates to Nyandarua Woman Representative Wanjiku Muhia, Gilgil MP aspirant Sarah Wangari, Embakasi MP James Gakuya and Narok North parliamentary aspirant Kaitikei ole Rotiken, who trounced their opponents but were denied the documents.

Mr Rotiken mustered 20,499 votes against Agnes Shonko's 350 votes.

During the Nyandarua nominations for women rep, lawyer Danstan Omar said, ballot papers and boxes were burnt and thereby made it difficult to tally votes to identify the winner.

A certificate issued to Faith Wairimu Gitau was cancelled and Jubilee ordered to hand the certificate to incumbent Wanjiku Muhia, who it said had won the primary.

In Rangwe constituency, Lilian Gogo trounced five rivals, among them sitting MP George Oner, to clinch the ODM ticket, but the win was challenged.

KISUMU GOVERNORSHIP

Her lawyer, Tom Ojienda, urged the tribunal to "throw out the dispute as the claimant had only managed to garner 200 votes".

Other enduring disputes involving ODM bigwigs include that of Kisumu Senator Anyang Nyong’o, which, though it was dismissed, found its way to the Court of Appeal, with two voters seeking repeat polls.

Justice Luka Kimaru upheld the the decision of the tribunal that Prof Nyong'o's victory in the ODM Kisumu governorship contest was legal.

The voters, through their lawyer James Mwamu, allege that the official tallying centre was irregularly moved from the Aga Khan Hall in Kisumu to Thurduro, a remote area in Nyakach Forest, where rigging and illegal marking of ballots was allegedly done.

"A presiding officer, James Koyondi, was allegedly abducted and taken to Thurduro to declare the nomination results, which saw Prof Nyong’o win."

OLOO VERSUS OBURA

Prof Nyong’o was declared winner after garnering over 164,000 votes, defeating incumbent Jack Ranguma and three others.

On the same note, repeat ODM nominations for the Kisumu Central parliamentary seat pitting former TNA secretary-general Onyango Oloo and incumbent Ken Obura will be conducted this week.

A certificate issued to Mr Obura was cancelled by Justice Francis Tuiyot.

Meanwhile, Justice John Mativo will determine on May 16 a request by Suba South parliamentary aspirant Caroli Omondi to be included on the list of independent candidates.

Mr Omondi was edged out of the hotly contested ODM primary after losing twice to the party's chairman and current MP John Mbadi.