The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has cleared Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata for the Governor race.
Kang’ata has been cleared alongside his running mate Stephen Mburu Munania.
He replaced his first running mate pick Dr Winfred Mwangi with Mr Mburu at the last minute.
At age 29, Mburu had two months ago eyed the Kariara Ward MCA seat but emerged second in the UDA party primaries.
Sources indicate that on Monday, June 6, Kang'ata presented himself and Winnie Mwangi, a former lecturer at the University of Nairobi to IEBC for clearance, but it was dicovered that the latter did not resign from the University. Instead, she is said to have taken four-months leave.
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She was a lecturer at the University of Nairobi for more than 25 years before being chosen as Kang'ata's running mate.
The law required public servants eyeing political seats in the 2022 General Election to resign and make public their bids by February 5.
Kang’ata, who markets himself as “Kang’ata wa barua” was yesterday dealt a blow after a letter by a voter became an obstacle to his bid to vie for the governor's seat.
He had appeared before the County Returning Officer in Murang’a to present his papers when he was informed that a voter had alerted authorities that his running mate Dr Winnie Mwangi did not resign from her University of Nairobi job.
The pair were shown a petition attached to a letter from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
In his defence, Kang’ata said the IEBC did not reject their papers yesterday. He clarified that they delayed presenting the papers to look into an allegation by an anonymous voter.
“IEBC DID NOT reject our papers or refuse to clear us. We did not present our papers. We sought time to study an objection letter filed by a consortium of aspirants through their lawyer. We are not filing any suit. Once we study the letter, we shall present our papers,” he tweeted.
Kanga’ata will run for Murang’a County governor on a UDA ticket.
This story has been updated.
