The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has kicked off the clearance of presidential hopefuls ahead of the August 9 General Election.
Two of the 16 shortlisted candidates were the first to be vetted yesterday.
The two submitted filled forms of supporters bearing the names, signatures, identity card or passport numbers of at least 2,000 voters registered in majority of the counties by the deadline which was Thursday last week.
The aspirants also filed an electronic list of supporters in an Excel spreadsheet.
Peter Mumbiko King’ori, an Independent candidate, and Justus Juma of Justice and Freedom Party walked into Bomas of Kenya, Baraza hall, Nairobi yesterday, and presented their papers to IEBC officials.
However, they were not cleared to vie as they did not meet the requirements set by the electoral agency.
Mr King’ori, who was the first aspirant to appear before the panel, lacked some items on the checklist, forcing IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati to reject his nomination.
Chebukati said the aspirant did not submit the duly filled forms of supporters bearing names, signatures, identity card or passport numbers of at least 2,000 voters registered in majority of the counties.
The electoral agency requires all hopefuls to have at least 48,000 signatures from 24 counties before they are cleared to vie.
Chebukati said King’ori did not manage to even get half of the number as only 65 of the 48,000 signatures that he submitted were verified, making him short of over 40,000 required signatures.
Other requirements missing include lack of code of conduct submission and self-declaration form by his running mate Winfred Koki.
King’ori and his team were given eight days to table the required documents or be locked out of the race.
Juma, the second candidate of the day, did not produce soft copies of signatures as required, forcing Chebukati to reject his nomination. He was given until June 2, to present the copies to the commission.
Presidential aspirants will present their nominations papers between May 29 and June 6.
Others expected to be vetted include Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Jimmy Wanjigi (Safina Party), Mwangi Wa Iria (Usawa kwa Wote Party), Mwaure Waihiga (Agano Party), independent candidates Reuben Kigame, James Kamau, Gibson Nyaruiya Nganga and Dorothy Kemuyu.
United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential hopeful William Ruto is booked for June 4, with the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya flag bearer Raila Odinga settling for June 5 to present their papers to IEBC.
Rigorous stages
The verification process is in three stages. The first stage requires aspirants, their running mates, a proposer and seconder to hand in their national identity cards. It’s also the stage where IEBC officials check whether the aspirants names were gazetted as presidential aspirants.
The second stage is the confirmation of party membership. Here, IEBC officials confirm from their database whether an independent candidate belongs to a political party and whether an aspirant sponsored by a political party is indeed a member of the outfit.
The third stage is time-consuming as it’s the qualification stage. Here, the presidential hopeful, running mate, proposer and seconder are supposed to hand in their academic papers for confirmation.
This is a very critical stage because the aspirants are also supposed to produce copies of dully filled form of intention to contest as an independent candidate.
Other items in the checklist include hard and soft copy of the symbol and confirmation of whether the symbol was approved and gazetted by the commission, copy from the registrar of political parties and dully filled elections code of conduct. Its at this third stage that Kingo’ri and Juma were rejected.
At the fourth and final stage, the returning officer, in this case Chebukati, confirms the documents and announces whether a candidate has been accepted or rejected. He is also the man to confirm the nomination certificates of all the aspirants.
Once qualified and the candidates are cleared, the commission will then submit their names to institutions responsible for matters related to Chapter Six of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity.
These institutions include the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and Office of the Director of Public Prosecution.
They will be required to establish candidates’ suitability on moral and ethical requirements.
Today, Prof George Wajackoyah of Roots Party and Walter Mongare of Umoja Summit Party are scheduled to present their papers for vetting.
