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IEBC issues tough rules on party lists

Alternative text.
By Benjamin Muindi bmuindi@ke.nationmedia.com and Caroline Wafula cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Tuesday, January 15  2013 at  18:10
In Summary
  • Outfits required to ensure they meet national and regional balance
  • The registrar of Political Parties, Ms Lucy Ndung’u, urged parties to stick to the code of conduct.
  • She said this would ensure both primary polls and the General Elections were free and fair.
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Political parties have been issued with tough rules for submitting their lists to the electoral commission.
According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), each party should ensure that the list meets national and regional balance and that no more than two thirds of the members shall be of the same gender in each cadre.
Other requirements will be adherence to inclusion of marginalised groups such as the disabled and youth in the lists.
Each party will be required to submit 1,882 names of contestants in various cadres, including Members of Parliament (290), county representative (1,450), senator (47), governors (47), women representative (47) and one name for the president.
IEBC secretary James Oswago told representatives of national executive boards of all parties on Tuesday that only lists that meet such criteria shall be accepted.
“The IEBC will then publish the full lists as submitted by each of the parties,” Mr Oswago said during a breakfast meeting with the parties and their registrar.
The parties have also been asked to ensure they exhaust internal dispute resolution mechanisms before lodging a complaint with the IEBC.
Mr Oswago told the parties that the IEBC will only arbitrate in cases where such a mechanism has been fully utilised.
At the same time, the National Gender and Equality Commission said it will closely monitor party nominations to ensure no Kenyan suffers any form of discrimination or violence.
The commission has put in place a hotline for Kenyans to give information on all aspects of discrimination or violation of electoral rights.
In a statement on Tuesday, it said it will closely work with the police, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary in handling cases of election offences.
Its focus will particularly be on offences relating to use of violence.

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