Ward representative threatens to campaign for Jubilee

The Orange Democratic Movement was struggling to keep its house in order on Sunday after violence broke out during nominations for a candidate for the March 7 Malindi by-election.

Confusion reigned as to who won with contestants holding meetings with their supporters as the party’s National Electoral Board remained silent.

A former Kenya Ports Authority employee Mr William Mtengo had begun celebrating unconfirmed results that he had carried the day in the nominations.

Tallying ended in anarchy when supporters disagreed over results from four polling stations.

Electoral officials Mr Elias ole Keton and Mr Dominic Charo left the tallying centre before announcing the winner following a complaint by Kakuyuni Ward Rep Nickson Mramba.

“A van was intercepted carrying ballot payers from Kakuyuni. The culprits are in this hall,” he said.

Earlier, the two election officials rejected votes from Kijiwe Tanga Primary School polling station after consulting with Mr Mtengo and Mr Stephen Sanga.

CONDEMNED 'RIGGING'

The Kakuyuni MCA condemned the “rigging” and called for a fresh nominations. He threatened to back Jubilee if his plea was rejected.

However, his remarks were not taken lightly by Mr Mtengo’s supporters who accused him of being a Jubilee mole sent “to disrupt peaceful ODM polls”.

Mr Sanga asked for recounting of votes for three polling stations.

“The results are not the same as those confirmed by my agents. We demand manual recounting of the votes,” he said.

Before the start of the final tallying that began around midnight, ODM electoral official Mr Peter Kituni asked supporters to accept the outcome.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, some Malindi ODM leaders claimed that Mr Willy Mtengo was leading the pack of 10 hopefuls, followed by Mr Stephen Barrawah and former area MP Lucas Maitha.

Mr Maitha’s participation was opposed by the other hopefuls. They questioned his inclusion on the ballot as he had not been vetted at Orange House in Nairobi.

“Where did Maitha come from? His name does not feature in the original list of nine so when I saw his name on the ballot paper, I was alarmed and immediately lodged a complaint,” Mr Justin Kazungu Baya said.

CALL WENT UNANSWERED

Contacted, Mr Maitha, who until recently was United Republican Party leader and Kenya Bureau of Standards Chairman, told the Nation to give him an hour to respond.

“Right now (10.25am) I’m meeting my people. Let me save your number and I will call you in the next one hour,” he said.

The Nation called him at 1.10pm on Sunday but the call went unanswered.

Cord Parliamentary whip and Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadeghu admitted that the Saturday nominations were hit by several problems.

“Although it was fair, a number of hitches were reported. I saw an injured youth in one polling station after violence broke out,” he said by phone.
When fracas broke out at the tallying centre where he was an observer, Mr Mwadeghu left immediately.

(READ: Confusion mars ODM nominations in Malindi)

Shela Ward Representative Adamson Kadenge Mathethe said some polling stations could not conduct nominations due to violence.

“At Lucas Maitha’a assumed stronghold, Kijiwetanga, the polling station was closed at 11am and police officers deployed to quell the violence,” he said.

The opposing camps — Jubilee and Kadu-Asili — welcomed the likely fallout, saying it would boost their chances to clinch the seat which fell vacant after Mr Dan Kazungu (ODM) was appointed Mining Cabinet Secretary late last year.

Kadu-Asili leader and Kaloleni MP Gunga Mwinga said the party was waiting to see what happened in the ODM and Jubilee nominations before cashing in on disgruntled aspirants.

Former Kenya Airports Authority Deputy MD Naomi Kumbatha Cidi said ODM nomination had shown that the party’s face was in Nairobi not the grassroots.