Mercy Mwai @wangumarci and James Murimi @Jamesmurymy
About 2,000 aspirants who lost in the just-concluded party primaries have applied to run as independent candidates in the August 8 General Election.
Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u said yesterday her office had received 2, 000 applications from aspirants out of which 1, 500 candidates had been cleared to run.
Ndung’u said her office was doing everything possible to clear the candidates and those who found the process slow and were afraid of missing the deadline were at liberty to seek an extension through the courts.
The deadline set by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) lapsed yesterday. In a statement on its Facebook page, the commission said the closing date for the application for independent candidates is Monday next week, 90 days to the polls.
The aspirants were required to submit their papers by yesterday (May 4) to allow processing and time to make corrections on rejected symbols.
The law requires persons intending to vie in the General Election as independent candidates not to be members of any political party at least three months (90 days) to the date of the elections.
“An aspirant intending to contest as an independent candidate shall submit a name and a symbol to the commission for approval.
Independent candidates are requested to submit duly filled application forms by May 4, to allow for processing before the legal timeline of May 8,” said the statement.
Earlier, the registrar’s offices at Lion’s Place in Westlands and at IEBC offices at Anniversary Towers were a hive of activity as aspirants rushed to beat the deadline. At the Registrar’s office, there were long queues from aspirants who wanted their papers cleared before the deadline.
Some aspirants hailed the clerks at the offices, saying their speed was commendable, as they cleared them early enough. An officer who did not want to be named said those who applied yesterday would get their clearance certificates by evening to enable them hand over to the commission within the stipulated time.
Other aspirants called for the devolution of the offices of the registrar to hasten the process, or better still provide for online clearance under the e-citizen portal.
“I am for this office to come up with a proper arrangement so that people can clear faster. Verification of symbols is taking long,” Wycliffe Mwangi, who is aspiring for the MCA position Oloosirkon/Sholinke Ward in Kajiado county, said.
According to Sections 32 and 33 of the Elections Act of 2011, independent candidates should submit unique symbols to be used on the ballot ninety days before the General Election.
However, some aspirants complained that it had taken long for the registrar to clear them, yet they had handed their papers two months ago. And at the IEBC headquarters at Anniversary Towers, the exercise moved on smoothly.
The rush to vie as independent candidates comes after various aspirants lost in party primaries and vowed to be on the ballot come the elections. Meanwhile, IEBC has lauded political parties for conducting party primaries despite challenges.
Speaking during a media engagement forum with the media in Nairobi yesterday, IEBC vice chairperson Consolata Nkatha said that the parties tried to conduct the nominations without having proper structures. She said they would soon come up with a clear IEBC register.
The post 2,000 aspirants to run as independents appeared first on Mediamax Network Limited.