MBUGUA: UHURU'S LETTER TO THE REGISTRA LOCKS MBUGUA OUT

Thursday, 28 April 2011 00:05 BY ISAAC ONGIRI

Uhuru declines to hand Mbugua Kanu ticket

FORMER Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua was locked out of the Kamkunji by-election race after deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta declined to sanction him as the Kanu candidate.

Mbugua had secured endorsement  from the party vice chairman Gideon Moi and the party's secretary general Nick Salat. However, an executive letter filed at the registrar of political parties written by Uhuru insisted that all nomination certificates must be signed by the party chairman.

“I am locked out. A letter written by the Kanu chairman requires me to have the nomination certificate bearing both the party chairman and secretary general’s signature,” said Mbugua after his last minute attempts to get Uhuru’s signature failed.

Mbugua was supposed to present his papers before the Kamukunji returning officer Joseph Ole Masindet this afternoon.
He said he would consult with his supporters on his next course of action ahead of the official campaigns scheduled to start on May 1.
 The letter by Uhuru was written after a section of the party officials authorized a candidate to run on the party's ticket in the South Mugirango by election. It means that no one can run for parliamentary elections on the party ticket without getting endorsement from the party chairman, Uhuru.
Uhuru has been at cross purposes with Gideon Moi and Salat who have been holding rallies to try and reinvogorate the party ahead of next year's elections.
The two have accused Uhuru of concentrating his energies in building a national alliance with former Higher Education Minister William Ruto and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka instead of reviving the party which is now a pale shadow of its former self.
Mbugua will now join a growing list of MPs who have failed to recapture their seats after they were ousted in petitions filed against them by their rivals.
Others who have lost are former MPs Joel Onyancha (Bomachoge)Omingo Magara (South Mugurango),George Thuo (Juja),Dick Wathika (PNU),Ngata Kariuki (Kirinyaga Central) and Abdirahman Ali (Kirinyaga South).
The frontrunners in the Kamkunji race which has attracted six candidates are PNU nominee Yusuf Hassan, ODM’s Ibrahim Mohamed Jonniee and Narc Kenya’s Brian Weke.