Four candidates gear up for Batalu Ward by-election
ODM candidate in the upcoming by-election in Batalu Ward, Wajir County Jimal Abdi Hassan (right) receiving a certificate from party Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna. Four candidates are in the competition. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The case had dragged in courts for close to two years before Mr Abdi won this year.
- The other contenders in the race were Idhow Adan Ibrahim and Ali Yusuf Abdullahi.
- The IEBC also named Buna Secondary School as the tallying centre for poll’s results.
Four candidates will face off in a hotly contested by-election in Batalu Ward, Wajir County slated for December 18.
The by-election comes is after one of the candidates in the August 8, 2017 elections successfully challenged the results released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which declared Mr Ibrahim Noor Hussein the winner with 1,099 votes.
The petitioner, Mr Hassan Jimal Abdi, who came second in the contest having garnered 946 votes, took the battle to court after he was unsatisfied with the results, claiming that his opponent had violated the elections rules.
NULLIFIED
A Wajir court then nullified the election on February 2, 2018 and ordered for fresh elections, but Ibrahim appealed the verdict at the Garissa High Court which later dismissed it.
He then moved to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which upheld the magistrate’s decision, giving the go-ahead for the by-election.
The case had dragged in courts for close to two years before Mr Abdi won this year.
The other contenders in the race were Idhow Adan Ibrahim and Ali Yusuf Abdullahi.
Recently, the IEBC released four names of the candidates who will battle it out in the repeat election through a gazette notice dated November 11.
The candidates include Gedow Adan Hassan (Ford Kenya), Hassan Jimal Abdi (ODM), Ibrahim Noor Hussein (PDR), and Idhow Adan Ibrahim (Jubilee Party).
TALLYING CENTRE
The IEBC also named Buna Secondary School as the tallying centre for poll’s results.
Last week, IEBC held a consultative meeting with candidates in the by-elections at its headquarters in Nairobi.
According to IEBC, the meeting was aimed at discussing the level of preparedness for the by-election and address concerns by the candidates.
Among the concerns raised was the location of the tallying centre, which one of the candidates wanted moved to Bute. But the candidates finally agreed to have the tallying centre remain at Buna.
With only three weeks to the by-election, candidates have intensified their campaigns in a bid to secure votes.
Top on their agenda is improved services, education, infrastructure, improved living standards and security.
