Seth Onyango, Sarah Ndung’u and Bernard Gitau @PeopleDailyKe
Jubilee Party has appointed Raphael Tuju, who is also head of secretariat, as its secretary general. At the same time, the party has resolved establish county election boards to oversee nominations in the counties.
The changes, which have seen Veronica Maina take up the position of deputy chair in charge of strategy, were made by the party’s National Executive Council after a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto at State House.
National Election Board chairman Muchai Lumatete was also replaced by Andrew Musangi. Lumatete will now head the disciplinary committee while Faith Waigwa will be in charge of the appeals tribunal. Jubilee’s move to form county election boards is a departure from the initial decision to use the IEBC to conduct its nominations.
The initial plan to use IEBC services was meant to reduce disputes, as it would have created the perception of fairness. The party is also facing challenges over the use of digital smart cards to conduct nominations with pressure mounting to abandon the documents in favour of a manual exercise.
On Monday, Tuju said a decision on whether to use the card or not will be made soon. NEB wants all counties to have election boards within one week. The process of forming the boards is likely to test the party’s unity.
The biggest challenges are expected in areas where competition for seats is fierce. There growing suspicions and claims of sabotage with some aspirants claiming mischief in the run up to the nominations.
Rev Samuel Kobia, a commissioner with the party’s NEB, on Monday told reporters in Hola town, Tana River County that county election boards will not conduct primaries in their respective counties to avoid conflict of interest.
“We are all politicians and we have preferred candidates. To avoid conflicts of interest, the boards will oversee primaries in counties other than their own,” Kobia said.
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