It is anxiety, confusion and panic across the political divide as aspirants who claimed to have lost unfairly at the just-concluded nominations balance between seeking independent tickets before today’s deadline expires or waiting out rulings from their parties which could extend to the weekend.
Aggrieved aspirants in both Jubilee Party and the National Super Alliance (Nasa) affiliate parties, where majority of cases challenging the nomination results have been filed, accused the parties of intentionally delaying the conclusion of cases to lock them out of the independent ticket opportunity.
On Tuesday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) gave a directive that all disgruntled candidates who lost in the primaries and those who want to vie as independents have only today to submit application forms or be locked from the August polls.
“Receiving symbols and applications for independent candidates is only at 21st floor Anniversary Towers, Nairobi. Deadline May 4,” said IEBC on Tuesday in an advertisement.
Yesterday, the commission ran a reminder of today’s deadline in a last warning to aspirants to make up their minds on whether they want to exhaust the parties appellate system or to beat the deadline to be on the ballot as independent candidates.
“We continue to receive submissions of independent application forms ahead of the deadline,” IEBC yesterday posted on its Twitter handle. At least one big name in Jubilee whose fate was decided yesterday was Starehe MP Maina Kamanda who lost to Charles Njagua in the tribunal verdict.
Among the big names who have been waiting for party tribunal verdict include Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma who has petitioned the nomination of Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o by the ODM Party.
Also caught in the race against time are MPs Shakeel Shabir (Kisumu East), John Mbadi (Suba), Governor John Mruttu (Taita-Taveta), Kasipul MP Joseph Magwanga (was contesting against Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti) and Awendo MP Jared K’Opiyo.
And the ODM director of communications Philip Etale last evening said the party is scheduled to start issuing the verdicts to aspirants in private this morning, in apparent move to hush loud controversy.
On the other hand, Jubilee was by last evening still quiet on the exact day it would release full results of the disputes although it had earlier promised to do so by Tuesday 5pm.
In Mbadi’s case, the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal yesterday extended orders stopping ODM from awarding a certificate to him or his opponent Caroli Omondi. Impatient politicians camped at Orange House waiting for the verdict before they make up minds on next moves.
The same was the scenario at Jubilee Party’s headquarters at Pangani, Nairobi, where aspirants whose cases were yet to be decided camped all day waiting for the verdict.
Agitated aspirants accused the appeals tribunal of dilly-dallying in delivering verdicts even as the independent candidates window is set to shut. Jubilee tribunal chair Faith Waigwa said it received 508 petitions and so far they had dispensed with 200 cases and were yet to deliver verdict on 300 others.
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