Anxiety as parties forward names of nominated leaders

Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu. [Samson Wire, Standard].

There is anxiety among members of political parties after their outfits presented lists of members to be nominated to the Registrar of Political Parties.

Political parties had until Saturday to provide the names of individuals who will take nominated senators, MCAs and MPs positions after the August polls.

During high-octane political activities, party leaders use the promise of nomination to calm down rivalry, reward loyalties and sometimes donate a seat to a close relative.

RPP Anne Nderitu told The Standard her office will ensure the names are in order before they are submitted to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Ms Nderitu said those picked did not need to be members of the party but will be required to be moved to the same outfit once the name has been presented.

In the 2017 election, the Jubilee party which had the majority of members in Parliament was allocated six of the 12 nominated members, while ODM allocated three while ANC, Ford Kenya, and Wiper got one each.

According to the IEBC, each party participating in the election is expected to submit the list with 12 nominees for National Assembly, 16 women nominees, two youth, and two persons with disability to the Senate.

Equally, the parties are required to give a list of eight nominees per county representing the marginalised groups and a number of nominees equal to the number of wards in the respective county for the gender list per devolved unit.

Each list according to IEBC must reflect regional and ethnic diversity. The requirement does not apply to nominees for county assembly seats.

In the 2017 polls, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee and Raila Odinga’s parties had the biggest share of the nominated leaders followed by Wiper, Amani and Ford Kenya respectively.

For the National Assembly, Jubilee nominated former Starehe MP Maina Kamanda, lawyer Jeniffer Shamalla, Gideon Keter, Cecily Mbarire, David Sankok, and Mucheke Halima.

The Orange party selected Knut Secretary General Wilson Session, Denitah Ghati, and Prof Jacquiline Oduol. The party also selected former ODM nominated lawmaker Isaac Mwaura while ODM picked Gertrude Inimah to represent persons with disabilities.

In the criteria for settling on nominees, PWDs, youth and women are given priority. Notably, in 2017 close to 10,000 aspirants including party primary losers applied for the nomination slots.

[email protected]