IEBC rejects nomination lists from all 79 parties

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati addressing delegates during the IEBC National Election 2022 Conference at KICC, Nairobi on July 11h, 2022. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has rejected the nomination lists for all political parties after failing to meet the set threshold as per the law.

The 79 parties have been given seven days to review the lists and resubmit them, failure to which they will miss out on the nomination seats.

The move follows an outcry that various leaders had elected their spouses or kin to be nominated in various offices in the country.

Top politicians in various political parties have been linked with some of the names on the nomination lists raising hue and cry from party members.

According to IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, none of the political parties had met the law in nominating their candidates for various seats.

“None of the submitted 79 party lists were compliant with the law and they stand rejected for various reasons which are documented for respective parties,” he said.

He noted that in some cases, some of the candidates seeking seats in the coming election had nominated themselves, a move he termed as illegal.

“The reasons for rejecting the list differ from one party to the other but the issue of gender representation and candidates nominating themselves is among the main reasons,” he said.

Speaking in Naivasha after closing a six-day training workshop for IEBC staff, Chebukati said that the parties had up to 22nd of July to send the fresh lists.

“We are not aware of individuals nominating their spouses, but the submitted list did not meet the legal framework,” he said.

On printing of ballot papers, Chebukati said that the process was ongoing smoothly with the next phase targeting presidential ballot papers. He added that printing of papers for areas where there were pending court cases would continue next week after all the disputes were resolved.

“The Chief Justice has assured us that all the pending cases will be determined by today (Friday) paving way for the full printing of all the ballot papers,” he said.

The chairman added that the commission had employed over 300,000 election officials who would undergo training before the election date. On his part, the executive director Electoral Law and Governance Institute for Africa Felix Odhiambo said that all eyes were on IEBC as the country headed to the elections.

He called on the commission and its personnel to uphold dignity by making sure that the elections were free and fair.