State House was on Thursday drawn into the wrangle surrounding nominations in Transport minister Amos Kimunya’s Kipipiri constituency, as elsewhere five aspirants for governor faced the prospect of being locked out of the General Election.
Housing minister Mr Soita Shitanda (Kakamega, New Ford Kenya) had a narrow escape last night, but Mr Abdallah Mwaruwa (Mombasa, TNA), Mr Joel Gesuka (Trans Nzoia), Mr Patrick Khaemba (Trans Nzoia, Ford Kenya), and Mr Jack Ranguma (Kisumu, ODM), were among aspirants who encountered road blocks in presenting their documents to the electoral commission.
In Kipipiri, Mr Samuel Gichigi overcome several hurdles and was eventually cleared. First, his nomination papers were rejected after an official from the Alliance Party of Kenya sent a letter alleging he had not been cleared.
Mr Gichigi crossed to the party led by Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi after losing out to Mr Kimunya in contentious nominations for presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance.
As he sought nomination, Mr Gichigi said Returning officer Acenia Njoroge showed him a letter from APK chairman Titus Imbui saying the party had not cleared him.
However the leter was on the letterhead of the non-existent PNU Alliance.
Later, Ms Beatrice Elechi, the APK secretary-general, said there had been concerted efforts by people claiming to be from State House seeking to have Mr Gichigi’s candidature withdrawn.
State House pressure
Mr Murungi confirmed that he had received reports from party officials about the State House pressure.
“I was told by my party secretariat that State House was calling to say that he (Gichigi) should not be given papers...Even if Kimunya is our friend, we cannot bend the rules to favour him.”
Mr Murungi doubted that President Kibaki would resort to such methods.
The head of the Presidential Press Service Isaiah Kabira also denied that State House was exerting any pressure.
Elsewhere, former Law Society of Kenya chairman Okong’o O’Mogeni learnt that he will have to wait after the High Court in Nairobi ruled that the IEBC should hear afresh his complaint against the nomination of Mr Abuya Abuya for the Nyamira senate seat on an ODM ticket.
In Kakamega, Mr Shitanda was cleared after five hours while electoral officials finally authenticated his degree certificate.
The minister had been blocked by the United Democratic Front during the party primaries on the basis that the university from which he obtained his degree was not recognised.
In Mombasa, Mr Mwaruwa’s clearance was put on ice after officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission found out that he had a master’s degree but no bachelor’s degree.
He was referred to the Commission for University Education, which will determine the validity of his documents. He will be given another chance before 4.30pm on Friday.
The law states that one needs to be a holder of a degree from a university recognised in Kenya to run for the seat.
In Trans Nzoia, Mr Gesuka and Mr Khaemba, who want the governorship, were asked to get clearance letters from the Commission for Higher Education
After his hard-fought fight for the Orange Democratic Movement ticket for Kisumu, Mr Ranguma was also asked to get a clearance letter from the universities’ commission.
Kisumu County electoral commission returning officer Dolly Akili said she had not blocked the nomination of the candidate, but would wait for the aspirant to present his papers again on Friday.
Ms Ruth Odinga, who dropped her governorship bid to become Mr Ranguma’s running mate, was cleared.
It was a surprise of a different sort for Ms Susan Owino, who was seeking the women’s representative seat for Migori on an ODM ticket.
Ms Owino was told that Ms Danita Ghati was the party’s legitimate candidate.
In Kimilili, both Mr Nicholas Toywa and Mr John Wenyaa presented certificates to the elections coordinator.
The electoral commission eventually cleared Mr Toywa whose name was on the party nomination list.
Mr Wenyaa’s supporters took to the streets in protest and were confronted by the police.
The presentation of papers in other parts of the country went on smoothly. It ends Friday, setting the stage for campaigns 31 days to March 4.
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