Reprieve for independent aspirants as IEBC clears air on deadline

Ezekiel Obonyo of Registrar for Political parties with the various aspirants at the at the Register of political parties offices,Lion's Place,Westlands,Nairobi, to be cleared to run as independent Tharaka Nithi Gubernaterial candidate in the August poll, ahead of the slated deadline .PHOTO/Elvis Ogina (STANDARD} May 05, 2017

Aspirants seeking to run as independent candidates have until Monday to obtain clearance from the electoral commission.

Hundreds of politicians have been flocking the office of the Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) in Nairobi to submit their applications.

Thursday, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) clarified that aspirants who were not affiliated to any political party had legally until Monday to submit their papers.

In a gazette notice published on Tuesday, IEBC asked the independent candidates to submit duly filled application forms to the electoral agency headquarters in Nairobi by Thursday, sparking protests from aspirants who had not been cleared.

While the gazette notice was clear that yesterday (May 4) was meant to allow for the processing of documents before the legal timeline of May 8, aspirants said the RPP office had vowed to abide by the May 4 date.

Peter Kimani, an aspirant for the Tetu parliamentary seat, said the message from RPP was clear that yesterday was the deadline.

"This is not acceptable. The legal date is Monday and that should not be changed by anyone for whatever reason," said Mr Kimani, who has been queuing since Tuesday.

The IEBC yesterday afternoon said the legal deadline remained Monday 8.

Administrative advice

"Closing date for application for the independent candidates is Monday 8, which is 90 days to the polls. The 4th was an administrative advice," said IEBC on its official Twitter handle yesterday.

Aspirants however complained about the slow pace of the clearance and the rejection of choice of independent candidate symbols.

The just-concluded nomination primaries brought more confusion as some of those who lost sought to become independent candidates.

Threats of lawsuits were issued to the electoral body by a number of aspirants who were angered by the slow pace of issuing them with certificates.

"The rate of issuing certificates has slowed down despite the large number of people present," said Duncan Obonyo, an MCA aspirant for Kabuoch South ward in Homa Bay County. [Kevin Ogutu and Rotuno Kwonyike]