TNA concedes defeat after Mathare poll

The National Alliance (TNA) party Tuesday questioned the legitimacy of Orange Democratic Movement's (ODM) persistent claims that the elections agency could not be trusted to oversee a credible poll.

TNA Secretary Onyango Oloo conceded that their rival, ODM, must have put a formidable strategy to win the seat as Steve Kariuki was elected Mathare Constituency MP.

Oloo, however, made a scathing attack on ODM over their persistent calls for the disbandment of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and wants them to either disown their victory or legitimise the electoral body.

"I want to congratulate ODM for their victory. TNA will have to review the whole process with an aim of reinvigorating the party.

"Now that IEBC conducted a free and fair election and an ODM candidate won, does it mean that the commission is not a fair referee?" posed Oloo.

He challenged the Orange party to come out clearly over the disbandment of IEBC or denounce their victory since it was overseen by the same commission they want sent home.

"CORD has been on the offensive about the electoral commission and we are perturbed that when they win, IEBC is a good referee, but when they lose, they want it disbanded. We have lost the seat but we will not condemn IEBC," he added.

Oloo said TNA will review the whole election process to find out why they did not retain the seat.

ODM's new entrant in Parliament Steven Kariuki said he had observed factors that led to irregularities in the final results in Mathare last year and sealed all loopholes.