URP: Poll disputes to be resolved in Counties

By LILLIAN ONYANGO laonyango@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Sunday, January 20  2013 at  17:16

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The United Republican Party (URP) officials on Sunday said they had established a dispute resolution mechanism at the County level to address issues arising from the nominations.

URP Chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the five-member County Election Committee was selected and appointed through a consensus made by all aspirants seeking the party ticket.

He said the members of the committees do not participate in the election process, vying for positions, and so are cushioned from the allegation of bias.

“A lot of them have been resolved at the County level. This is how it should be because at that level that people know exactly what the problem is. As a party, we encourage to have them sorted out locally,” he said during a press briefing at the URP offices in Nairobi.

He said there are a number of disputes which are still pending adjudication and remained confident that they will have them resolved in time to present the candidate names to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Mr Kaparo gave an example of a complaint that was raised in Kuresio South constituency.

“The board found that there was no merit in the complaint against the election of Zakayo Cheruiyot and the committee at the county level threw out the appeal,” Mr Kaparo said. “And the NEB agrees with the decision of the committee.”

At the same time, over 300 qualified candidates received their certificates from the party headquarters in Nairobi and the chairman said they hope to finish doing so by Monday.

“It is a tedious job but our staff, commissioner and volunteers will reduce the crowd that was here,” Mr Kaparo said.

On Friday, the IEBC said all disputes arising from the party nominations must be resolved through the political parties’ disputes resolution mechanisms as provided in their respective party constitutions within three days from Saturday.

IEBC said all contestants who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the nomination should complain to their parties before January 22 at 5pm.

Political parties are required to submit the final list of the nominees to the IEBC by 5pm on Monday.

By Sunday, results from polling centres were still being received at the party offices.

Party officials and aspirants engaged in shouting battles when the candidates, who the officials say lost in the party primaries, demanded certificates and refused to leave the offices.

Efforts by Mr Kaparo to calm the crowd were futile and security agents were called to the scene.

However, while addressing the media Mr Kaparo said: “By and large they have been extremely understanding and clam and occasionally we get a person who is not an aspirant – an excited supporter. But we are doing very well under the circumstances.”

On Saturday, Mr Kaparo admitted that the party nominations had been chaotic and blamed it on the election laws and hoped the 11th Parliament would review them.

He described the laws controlling the electioneering process as a barrier to the growth of democracy.

The party which had to move its primaries from Thursday to Friday said it was faced with financial, logistical and legal challenges making it difficult to have nominations on time.