IEBC rejects bids for presidential aspirants

Presidential aspirant Nazlin Umar addresses journalists at her home in Parklands, Nairobi, on January 10, 2017. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Justus Juma of the Justice and Freedom Party and independent aspirants Erastus Nyamera Masira, Truphena Moraa Ochwang’i and Nazlin Umar did not meet the IEBC threshold to run for State House in the August 8 General Election.
  • Mr Nyamera arrived at Kenyatta International Convention Centre three hours late without a running mate or any document.
  • Mr Nyamera did not produce a signed list of supporters and is not a degree holder.

It was the end of the road for four presidential aspirants after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) rejected their bids on Monday.

Mr Justus Juma of the Justice and Freedom Party and independent aspirants Erastus Nyamera Masira, Truphena Moraa Ochwang’i and Nazlin Umar did not meet the IEBC threshold to run for State House in the August 8 General Election.

Mr Nyamera arrived at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) three hours late without a running mate or any document.

He claimed to have been struck in traffic after boarding a Gikomba matatu and his preferred running mate had stood him up.

Mr Nyamera sat patiently in front of the IEBC officials.

NO RUNNING MATE

“I am rejecting you as you do not have a name of your running mate,” IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati told him.

Mr Nyamera did not produce a signed list of supporters and is not a degree holder. He also did not have a Sh200,000 cheque payable to the commission.

Mr Nyamera later said he would sue the commission “for putting stringent measures that violated my freedom to contest the country’s presidency”.

The unsuccessful presidential aspirant blamed the IEBC for his woes, saying it did not give him sufficient time to collect the required signatures.

FOUR DAYS

“I had a short notice of four days to get the signatures,” said Mr Nyamera. “The commission’s measures are intended to lock out independent candidates.
“I will go to court.”

The aspirant added that he had enrolled for a degree course in a Swiss university “and I don’t understand the role of degrees when one is holding a public office”.

He said he was cleared to run for the presidency in 1997 and had no idea the new Constitution “is against our rights”.

And he had an explanation for his missing running mate.

Independent candidate Michael Wainaina and his running mate Miriam Mutua address the press after being cleared by the IEBC at KICC, Nairobi, on May 29, 2017. PHOTO | LILLIAN MUTAVI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Mr Nyamera said many people were willing to deputise him but he had settled on a Mr Dennis Kirui.

SWITCHED OFF PHONE

“He switched off his phone today and I don’t really know what happened,” he said.

Ms Ochwang’i showed up alone. She picked the forms from Anniversary Towers but did not return them. She left without a word when the Chebukati team dismissed her.

Ms Umar was making a second stab at the presidency, having been on the ballot in 2013.

When IEBC officers were scrutinising her documents, she said loudly: “Oh my God!

“My name is not even in the list of voters.”

DEMAND LETTER
Sitting in front of Mr Chebukati — her running mate and proposers’ chairs were empty—she told the IEBC chairman that the commission had maliciously refused to clear her.

“If your name is missing, this is not the forum for that,” Mr Chebukati answered bluntly.

She then served him with a demand letter and a court order, even as he asked her to go back to the verification desk.

Ms Umar was not interested and she rose and waved at journalists photographing her.

Mr Juma produced a list of 48,000 names with no signatures and his proposers were not members of his party.

“Your proposer belongs to Jubilee, your degree certificate and that of your running mate’s are not certified and I therefore reject your application as a presidential candidate,” Mr Chebukati told him.