This archive report was first published on 4 September 2019.
On September 2, 2019, the Jubilee Party's National Elections Board (NEB) announced McDonald Mariga as its candidate for the Kibra by-election, scheduled for November 7, 2019.
However, the decision has been met with opposition from several quarters, including lawmakers and aspirants who feel that the process was unfair and undemocratic.
Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny, who spoke at Parliament buildings, expressed his disappointment with the selection process, saying that it undermined democracy.
“Politics doesn’t know a household name, we need to go back to the drawing table and put our house in order,” he said.
Mr. Kutuny is not alone in his opposition, as other lawmakers, including nominated MP Maina Kamanda and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, have also expressed their disapproval of the selection.
One of the aspirants, Morris Peter Kinyanjui, has even gone to the extent of appealing the decision of the board, saying that it was done in secrecy and contrary to party rules.
Mr. Kinyanjui accused the NEB of arrogating itself powers it does not have to conduct the selection, and said that Mr. Mariga’s selection was “not only unfair, deceptive and shrouded in secrecy, but also contrary to the provisions of Jubilee Party’s constitution.”
Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has said that it will only address complaints in Kibra party nominations after they are formally lodged.
The aspirants, who spoke at Miami Global Hotel in Nairobi, expressed their disappointment, calling the nomination unconstitutional and a charade.
They have vowed to submit their grievances to the Party Dispute Tribunal and will not accept a nomination to be forced upon them without due process.
