Thursday, April 28, 2011

Five cleared for Kamukunji by-election

By PETER MWAI pmwai@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Wednesday, April 27 2011 at 20:11

Five aspirants were on Wednesday cleared by the interim electoral body to vie for the Kamukunji parliamentary seat.
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“We have not received any notification on whether he intends to contest the seat and on which party’s ticket.
However, everyone is free to contest,” said returning officer Joseph Masindet.
Aspirants have up to Thursday, 4pm, to present their nomination papers to the Interim Independent Electoral Commission.
Parliamentary hopefuls, who were cleared on Wednesday were Mr Yusuf Hassan Abdi (PNU), Ms Catherine Muthoni (GNU), Mr James Matagaro (Kenya Social Congress), Mr David Waihiga (Agano) and Mr Daniel Omao (Ford People).
The Independent Party’s candidate, Mr Geoffrey Mutuku, was not cleared due to discrepancies in the signatures on his party certificates.
The aspirant was given up to today evening to sort out the matter.
ODM’s Ibrahim “Johnnie” Ahmed and Brian Weke of Narc Kenya are expected to present their nomination papers on Thursday.
Candidates will meet on Friday to, among other things, disclose their campaign plans to ensure smooth campaigning.
The Kamukunji seat became vacant after a court nullified Mr Simon Mbugua’s election due to irregularities during the 2007 General Election.
There has been speculation that Mr Mbugua, who lost in the recent PNU nominations, may contest the seat on another party’s ticket.
Reports indicated that the former lawmaker has been nominated by Kanu to vie for the seat, but one of the party’s officials had refused to endorse him.
Kanu is one of the parties under the PNU Alliance.
It is the second time parties under alliance will be rallying behind a single candidate after successfully doing so during the recent Kirinyaga Central by-election.
The Kamukunji and Ikolomani polls will be held on May 23.

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