By STANDARD TEAM

The list of nominees to county assemblies in Central and South Rift region has caused uproar after elected leaders picked their kin and political allies to fill the slots.

Investigation by The Standard reveals that politicians and political parties failed to satisfy the nomination threshold as per the Constitution.

The provision for nominated members of the County Assembly as contained in Article 177 of Section 7(2) of the County Government Act provides that the political party nominating members shall ensure that community and cultural diversity of the county is reflected in the County Assembly.

Most of the nominees in the list published by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) last Friday were either relatives or political allies of Governors, MPs or party officials.

In Nakuru County, 11 nominees out of 13 are from one community while in Baringo County, the slots seem to have been shared by family members of sitting MPs and friends of the Governor.

The list of nominees to Baringo County Assembly showed that two members of a family were picked to represent persons with disability.

In an attempt to hide this from being noted, one was nominated under Baringo County while another appeared under Nairobi County nominees.

The Standard established that Ms Valentine Sergon, a university student at St Paul’s University and her sibling Florence Jematia, secured slots in Baringo and Nairobi counties respectively.

We confirmed that Jematia, a resident of Kabarnet town, was initially in the list of people who had applied for nomination slots in the National Assembly.

Interestingly, her name was in the list of nominated members of the Nairobi County Assembly.

Ms Sergon was a complainant in one of the presidential petitions filed before the Supreme Court challenging the inclusion of spoilt votes in the final tally of the presidential votes. She filed the case alongside Mr Dennis Itumbi.

DENIED CLAIMS

When contacted for comment, Sergon maintained that she was legally nominated to represent the interests of the youth in the county. She denied being a relative to Baringo South legislator Grace Kipchoim. Mr Stephen Tanaka ole Simpole claimed his name was replaced by that of a sister to an IEBC commissioner. “I applied for the position 45 days before the General Election to represent the minority community in the county under the United Republican Party but I was shocked when my name was replaced by someone who has been a member of a different party all along,” claimed Simpole.

In Nakuru County, Governor Kinuthia Mbugua denied any relation with Ms Mbugua Emma Wambui, one of the nominees in the contentious list that has drawn the wrath of the public.

Speaking yesterday, Mbugua, however, disowned the list and called for amendments to reflect the county’s diversity.

He maintained that the nominee was selected to represent people with disability, adding that his office has filed a petition seeking to have the list reviewed.

Reports by Karanja Njoroge, Vincent Mabatuk and Nikko Tanui