Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter's UDA victory nullified

Nandi Hills MP Charles Keter. [File, Standard]

Nandi Hills Member of Parliament (MP) Alfred Keter’s victory in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) primaries has been nullified.

UDA’s disputes tribunal said the April 19 nomination exercise was marred with irregularities that led to Keter’s contested win.

Keter got 10,273 votes against Bernard Kitur’s 7,468 votes to be declared the winner.

However, it took hours before the nomination certificate could be handed over to him, with UDA officials saying the MP’s certificate wasn’t ready by the time Keter was demanding it.

Kitur had lodged formal complaints with the disputes tribunal, alleging electoral malpractice in the UDA primaries.

The tribunal found some of his allegations valid, resulting in the cancellation of Keter’s nomination.

The tribunal has, thus, referred the matter to UDA’s National Elections Board (NEB), which will make the final decision.

For long, Keter was regarded as Deputy President William Ruto’s fiercest critic in Rift Valley.

How he won the UDA certificate, confounded both friends and enemies.