The National Alliance party has written to the electoral commission to stop an entrepreneur from contesting the Nairobi governor’s seat on the Alliance Party of Kenya ticket.
TNA told the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that Mr Jimnah Mbaru was a member of the party and was making a mockery of the spirit and letter of the elections laws.
“We urge the IEBC to bar Mr Mbaru from contesting during the General Election as his defection to APK is illegal and the party (APK) cannot nominate him as a candidate after the closure of the nominations period,” said Mr Jasper Mbiuki, TNA’s secretary legal affairs in a protest letter to the commission.
Clear laws
He said the law was clear that no individual could change parties after January 18, a day after parties held their primaries.
“We also urge that severe sanctions be meted out against both Mr Mbaru and APK for their flagrant flouting of the law and their naked disregard and contempt for the rules and procedures that govern political party activities in Kenya,” Mr Mbiuki continued.
He asserted that Mr Mbaru was a member of TNA and could not, therefore, seek office on another party’s ticket.
“This position is emphatically stated under the Election Act and the Political Parties Act and is in fact an offence under that Act to do as Mr Mbaru intends,” he said.
“Mr Mbaru is nowhere near the permissible period and indeed has not even resigned from TNA. Consequently, the APK is legally barred from validly nominating Mr Mbaru,” noted Mr Mbiuki.
But APK secretary-general Beatrice Iraki said Mr Mbaru filed his papers with the party on January 18 within the deadline. “He defected on the same day in a letter sent and acknowledged by TNA officials,” Ms Iraki said.
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