Delicate balancing act as parties pick nominees

Mr Serengai Gitau, 86, casts his vote at Olchorro-Onyoro in Kajiado West during the Jubilee Party primaries. Many losers in the party primaries have been rewarded with nomination slots. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Among those whose names will be submitted to be considered for nomination after the August elections are Knut secretary- general Wilson Sossion, ODM secretary-general Agnes Zani, her ANC counterpart Godfrey Osotsi as well as Starehe MP Maina Kamanda.
  • ANC’s Executive Director Petronila Were and Ford Kenya’s Organising Secretary Chris Mandu also appear on their respective parties’ lists, the Nation learnt.
  • ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi was also yet to receive the party’s final list as at 8 pm last night.
  • From the various provisional lists, it was clear that party loyalty, regional considerations and gender played a major role in the choice of nominees to the two Houses.

Top political parties were on Saturday night racing against time to beat the midnight deadline for submitting the names of their nominees to the senate, the National Assembly and county assemblies even as it emerged that top party officials, sitting and former MPs as well as trade unionists were dominating the lists.

Even as Jubilee and the opposition kept the full list a closely guarded secret to avoid leakage to rivals, the Nation established that among those whose names will be submitted to be considered for nomination after the August elections are Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary- general Wilson Sossion, ODM secretary-general Agnes Zani, her Amani National Congress (ANC) counterpart Godfrey Osotsi as well as Starehe MP Maina Kamanda.

Others on the lists include former MPs Basil Mwakiringo and Prof Ruth Oniango, Mountain View MCA Beatrice Kwamboka, Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) deputy secretary-general Ernes Nadome and Nairobi Jubilee activist Millicent Omanga.

UPLOAD LISTS

ANC’s Executive Director Petronila Were and Ford Kenya’s Organising Secretary Chris Mandu also appear on their respective parties’ lists, the Nation learnt.

By the time of posting this story, the top parties like ODM, ANC and Wiper were yet to upload their lists on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) website, thanks to last-minute haggling  for the inclusion or exclusion of some names.

ODM Secretary General Agnes Zani at a past press conference at Orange house, Nairobi, on March 2, 2017. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

“I am yet to see the final list, but what I can tell you is that ninety per cent of our nominees are grassroots persons, young persons who have served the party diligently,” said Wiper Secretary- General Hassan Omar, who spoke to the Nation a few minutes to 8 pm last night.

ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi was also yet to receive the party’s final list as at 8 pm last night.

FINAL LIST

“We are still waiting to see the final list from our national office,” said his spokesman Kibisu Kabatesi.

From the various provisional lists, it was clear that party loyalty, regional considerations and gender played a major role in the choice of nominees to the two Houses.

Mr Sossion, for instance, was picked by ODM for two main reasons – to attract the support of teachers who are regarded as the opinion leaders in the villages as well as attract support from the South Rift where he hails from.

Mr Kamanda, who was picked by Jubilee, appears to be a beneficiary of a negotiated settlement after an acrimonious fallout during the Jubilee party primaries that saw him declared the winner before the results were invalidated by the party in favour of musician Charles Njagua alias Jaguar.

STAND DOWN

It took the intervention of State House for Mr Kamanda to stand down for the musician on the understanding that he would be “rewarded” with a ticket to the National Assembly.

On Saturday, Mr Sossion told the Nation that while he had not been contacted by the Orange party over his nomination, he had applied for the job.

“We wrote to all political parties asking them to nominate workers’ representatives to Parliament. If ODM has picked me, that is welcome for we shall diligently represent workers,” he said.

Ms Omanga, who fought tooth and nail to fly the Jubilee flag in the race for Nairobi woman representative but lost to the incumbent Rachel Shebesh in the primaries, is also a beneficiary of the fallout in the primaries.

BITTERLY CONTESTED

She had bitterly contested the results claiming they were rigged in favour of Ms Shebesh, forcing the party to assure her of a nomination to the senate.

The move to nominate Ms Omanga is not only meant to appease the Abagusii community but also forestall a fallout.

The duo has since made up and are campaigning for the party together. 

The battle for the populous Gusii vote is also reflected in ODM’s nomination of Ms Kwamboka, who unsuccessfully contested the Nairobi woman representative’s seat but lost to Ms Esther Passaris.

Kanu’s choice of Mr Nadome is targeted at workers who he represents as well as marginalised communities. He is a Samburu from Baragoi.

EMERGING TREND

The nominations of Mr Osotsi, Dr Zani, Mr Mwakiringo and Ms Were falls in the emerging trend where parties tend to pick their national officials who are too busy running party affairs to engage in party primaries.

Starehe MP Maina Kamanda addresses the media at his residence in Nairobi on May 4, 2017. He is said to be in Jubilee's list of those to be considered for nomination after the August elections. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Leading political protagonists were embroiled in last-minute haggling for nomination slots with losers in the party primaries making the bulk of the list.

The list is a mixed bag of loyalists like nominated Senator Zani and also a clear strategy to shore up presence and support in new frontiers in an election projected to be one of the toughest in the recent times.

Ms Zani is said to have been prevailed upon by ODM leader Raila Odinga not to run for a seat in Kwale but instead focus on running party affairs on promise she would be nominated.

POSSIBLE SENATORS

On the other hand, Mr Mudavadi has forwarded names of secretary-general Osostsi and former Voi MP Basil Mwakiringo in the National Assembly category with chief executive officer Petronila Were and Prof Ruth Oniang’o as possible senators.

A high ranking official at the Jubilee party headquarters told the Nation that of the names they had given to the IEBC by gender, women made up about 60 per cent.

They hope to use the nominations to sway support among the voting bloc.

“The President will be demonstrating that even though the 11th Parliament failed to enact the gender rule, he is ready to implement it any day,” said one of the President’s men who did not want to be seen as disclosing the party list.

RESPECTIVE BIDS

Both Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga are making a case for their respective bids in what has subjected them to rigours of a campaign that is in its final lap as the month of July beckons.

And with polls suggesting a tough contest, none is leaving it to chance, they are putting their best foot forward with Mr Kenyatta even deploying senior civil servants and Cabinet secretaries in the campaign trail.

The Constitution and IEBC guidelines list the number and regulations of coming up with names of those who are to be nominated.

Millicent Omanga. She is among those whose names will be submitted to be considered for nomination after the August elections. PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

The listing is done in the order of priority so that in a case where a party gets only a single slot, the person whose name appears first in the list benefits.

“Each party list comprises the appropriate number of qualified candidates and alternates between male and female candidates in the priority in which they are listed.

However, the criterion does not apply to the senate as all 16 nominees are women,” the Gazette notice by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati reads.

GENDER REQUIREMENT

Alternating the names between male and female is meant to obey the gender requirement.

The law stipulates that the composition of the list must obey regional and ethnic diversity of the country.

Not more than two nominees in the list should come from the same county or ethnic group.

Aspirants in the disability category will provide certification from the National Council for Persons with Disabilities while those seeking the seats on the platform of youth must have attained the age of 18 years and be below 35 years.

SUBMIT PARTY LISTS

“Today (Sunday) is the last day for parties to submit party lists. They submit online and there is an apparent last-minute rush,” the commission tweeted.

They were required to electronically upload them by close of business in the candidate registration management system.

The fact that no amendments can be made to the list once submitted to the commission has seen intense jostling with claims some hopefuls have contemplated buying their way.

POLITICAL OUTFITS

Most of the political outfits had, through advertisements in the mainstream media, called for applications from those interested in the positions for which we understand they got overwhelming requests.

The reality, though, is that most of the nominees are pre-determined by the party “owners” who choose to reward loyalty with them.

There are cases where they have settled on relatives and girlfriends in the past.

In the event that some names are rejected by the commission on grounds of not meeting the set requirements, it will notify the parties within two weeks.

Such parties are then required to update their list within one week.