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GITU: Barring of 52 presidential aspirants points to poor preparedness

 

The clearance of the Presidential aspirants by the Independent and Boundaries Commission ended on June 6 in readiness for the August general election.

There were 56 party and independent aspirants, who had expressed interest in running for president, raising concern about the length of the ballot paper.

In the end only four were cleared — Deputy President William Ruto of UDA, Azimio flag bearer Raila Odinga, Roots Party’s George Wajackoyah and Agano Party’s David Waihiga — representing only seven per cent of the original applicants.

Notably this is the shortest presidential ballot paper since the advent of multipartyism in 1992.

But the clearance process was not without drama. The first aspirant to be cleared as a candidate Walter Mong’are of Umoja Summit Party certificate was revoked after he was later found not to have met all the requisite qualifications. How this escaped the sharp scrutiny of the IEBC top brass remains inexplicable.

In another incident rejected independent aspirant Muthiora Kariara burnt his voter’s card in full glare of the commission staff and media cameras. There will not be a single independent candidate on the presidential ballot.

Where exactly did the rain start pounding the once exuberant party and independent aspirants. Quite a number of them had expressed concern that the IEBC and mainstream media was ignoring them. Subsequently, many of them were invited and interviewed by several legacy media houses. They outlined their manifestos and exuded confidence they would emerge victorious in the ensuing presidential race.

The joke circulating in social media was that, if a Kenyan was desirous of appearing before mainstream media, then all they needed to do was run for the president seat. The analogy continued that at the time of presenting their clearance documents before the IEBC chairman, the entire mainstream media would be present to cover them. To add on to that the media, would give them an opportunity to address the supporters and the entire nation.

The electoral commission on January 20 2022, published the Notice of the August 9 General Election outlining the key statutory election timelines that political parties and independent candidates should observe.

The Constitution is also very clear about the requirements of a presidential candidate.

The person qualifies for nomination if the individual -- (a) is a citizen of Kenya by birth; (b) is qualified to stand for election as a member of Parliament; (c) is nominated by a political party, or is an independent candidate; and (d) is nominated by not fewer than two thousand voters from each of a majority of the counties to be accompanied with duly filled forms of the supporters bearing the names, signatures, and identity cards/passport numbers of the stipulated number of voters; Corresponding copies of the identification documents of the voters who have appended their signatures in support of their candidature, and; an electronic list of supporters in a Microsoft Excel spread sheet format.

The just concluded the clearance process requires further scrutiny in terms of preparedness of the party and independent presidential aspirants.

To begin with, there is an apparent lack of awareness or being well versed with the above clearly stipulated electoral and constitutional requirements.

Second, based on the cadre of aspirant’s requirement that they must have a degree from a university recognized in Kenya demands deep introspection. This is in terms of the quality of graduates from our institutions of higher learning.

Third, based on precedents from the previous elections certain party sponsored as well as independent candidates hardly garner the minimum threshold of 48,000 votes at the presidential election. The question then arises, what transpired with all their supposed nominees who are registered voters. The allegation that security guards in major urban centers buildings are commissioned to collect copies of identity cards for a fee cannot be farfetched.

Fourth, there is a clear indication that voters changed their minds and therefore may have been coerced to nominate the cleared aspirants now candidates. This electoral lacuna requires further scrutiny.

Fifth, is the perplexity of how an aspirant decides to run for presidency managing whole countries resources yet they are unable to fulfil self-basic constitutional and electoral requirements.

Sixth, there is anecdotal signal that only those who are financially endowed can garner for the high seat. The compilation of 2,000 voters from each of a majority of the counties is no doubt a daunting task. Further does the IEBC have a signature data bank to authenticate the voter nominees?

That the high number of aspirants though many fell short of expectations is a clear demonstration that there are many yearning for leadership roles.

There may be a need to establish a school of leadership where instead of aspirants starting at the top they could be mentored through from MCA, MP, senator / governor then president.

This a wake-up call for all stakeholder to build on nation's democratic ideals.   BY THE STAR  

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