Mwangi wa Iria says 'powerful forces' out to control ballot

Usawa Political Party Presidential Aspirant Mwangi Wa Iria with his supporters outside Bomas of Kenya on May 30, 2022. [Samson Wire. Standard].

There was drama at the Bomas of Kenya yesterday after Usawa Kwa Wote presidential aspirant Mwangi wa Iria staged a protest over the removal of his name from the nomination register.

The Murangá Governor argued that he submitted all the requirements yet his name was removed from the schedule.

The schedule that was released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Sunday indicated when a presidential aspirant will present their papers for clearance to the national returning officer in this case IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati.

The Murang’a governor said his agent received a call on Sunday evening from the commission informing him that he (Wa Iria) had not met the requirements hence he was locked out of the race.

According to the IEBC agent, Wa Iria fell short of the required 48,000 signatures from at least 24 counties.

The information prompted Wa Iria to visit Bomas of Kenya on Sunday evening to demand an explanation from the Chebukati-led team.

However, he was unable to meet the chair or any of the officials forcing him to reschedule the meeting to yesterday.

Wa Iria and his supporters stormed Bomas of Kenya at 9.00 am on Monday demanding to see the IEBC chair to shed light on why his name was removed from the qualified 18 candidates.

But he could not get past the gate.

The governor said he had followed due process and submitted duly filled forms of supporters bearing the names, signatures, identity cards or passport numbers of at least 2,000 voters registered in a majority of the counties by the deadline which was Thursday last week.

“I have done all the needful just like all other aspirants that are on that list I do not understand why my name is missing on the qualified candidates,” he said.

Mischief claims

Although IEBC has rejected the signatures, Wa Iria smells mischief in the verification process.

“We cannot start rigging that far… We even have photos of your people going through item per item with our people,” Mr Wa Iria protested.

But Mr Chekubati maintained that due process was followed before the governor’s name was omitted from the presidential qualification list.

“The people on the schedule are the ones that submitted documents from the 24 counties. Less than that we did not put them on the schedule. The process was transparent and you can have the documents for verification,” he said

The IEBC Chair said that the governor failed to produce all the signatures as required by law before the May 25 deadline.

He noted that Mr Wa Iria raised the required 2,000 signatures from only five counties making him short of over 20 counties.

“Wa Iria submitted 24 bundles but in those bundles, there were 22 documents from 22 counties and upon checking on the initial verification that is where they found out that only five were compliant,” he said.

But the governor alleged that his removal from the schedule was part of a wider scheme to rig the forthcoming polls in favour of some candidates he did not mention.

He said there are strong forces who are determined to ensure no “Kikuyu is on the ballot.”

“There are some powerful forces who will do anything to ensure that no Kikuyu will be on the ballot. I hear they have already said that the final list should only have three candidates,” he said.

“They have deliberately removed my name today by throwing them in the toilet. How comes no one has told me anything!” the governor added.

Independent presidential aspirant Reuben Kigame was also locked out of the race as he did not manage to present the required number of signatures.

The two however have the option but take their grievances to the tribunal should they feel that the resolution to kick them out was unfair.

Mr Chebukati said Mr Wa Iria and Mr Kigame are at liberty to lodge complaints with the commission’s dispute resolution committee which will sit at the Milimani Law Courts from June 9 to 19.

The IEBC chair further promised a fair hearing and a procedurally fair determination.

Vetting of presidential hopefuls for the August 9 polls entered day two yesterday with the two aspirants of the day being rejected by the commission.

The first casualty was Prof George Wajackoyah of Roots Party who was rejected after falling short of the required signatures.

Mr Chebukati noted that Prof Wajackoyah had met all other requirements apart from raising the required number of signatures.

He managed to raise the required 2,000 signatures from only 17 counties out of the required 24. He was given until Thursday at 3 pm to raise the remaining signatures from seven counties if he still wants to be in the race.

Later in the afternoon, Walter Mong’are of Umoja Summit Party was awarded his certificate after ticking the checklist required by the commission.