Jubilee steps up nominations planning, cites budget constraints

 

 

Secretary-General Raphael Tuju said tamper-proof ballot papers to arrive in the country by Friday.

President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee has planned a meeting for all aspirants from Friday to take them through the nomination process that has yet to kick off.

The party's secretariat has mobilised volunteers and received more than 120,000 applications for the position of clerk for the exercise.

Secretary-General Raphael Tuju indicated that returning officers (ROs) both at the county and constituency levels, have been trained and are awaiting deployment.

The secretariat is planning the logistics of a nomination akin to what the electoral agency would have conducted, he said.

"Preparations are in top gear and we have just finished training the over 200 ROs. We will hold meetings with all the aspirants at county level just to take them through the nomination process," said Tuju.

According to Tuju, tamper-proof ballot papers are being printed abroad and are scheduled to arrive in the country by Friday.

However, the party's SG said it was regrettable that despite making sure that the nominations are done freely and fairly, there is inadequate funding to run the process.

The party collected approximately Sh800 million from the applicants who will contest in the nominations next week.

The money, he said, was little given that there will be competitive nominations in 30 counties, adding that ideally the party would require Sh10 billion.

"For us to efficiently carry out the process like the IEBC, we need more funds. We are mobilising resources from our members of Parliament and county assemblies to raise the funds," said Tuju.

IEBC, which will run the poll in all the 47 counties, has set aside Sh17 billion for the General Election.

Tuju went on: "The budget constraints are very high but they are not challenges that are beyond us. We are prepared to conduct a free, fair, transparent, and credible nomination exercise."

According to Tuju, the party received more than 120,000 applications for the position of clerk but only between 30,000 and 40,000 will be picked to help in next week's nomination.

The party boss also indicated that the management was running a comprehensive volunteer programme to help in planning and logistics for the nominations.

He said the programme has attracted 500 volunteers spread across the country to help cut the budget.

"We are the only party that has a comprehensive volunteer programme in the country. This will go a long way in reducing the cost of the exercise. We would not manage to pay all those who are working during the nominations. The volunteers will help," added Tuju.

In their recent tours of various parts of the country lately, President Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, have insisted that "there will be no favourites and all aspirants must mobilise their delegates to vote for them during the nominations".

More than 8,000 applicants have been cleared for the Jubilee Party nominations scheduled to take place on April 21, in what promises to be a gruelling competition among aspirants vying for different seats.

A total of 106 aspirants in 42 of the 47 counties showed interest an in the governor seats, with each aspirant paying Sh500,000, bringing the party's kitty to Sh53 million.

In the Senate race, 171 candidates in 45 counties want the Jubilee ticket. Senators paid Sh250,000, fetching the party Sh40.25 million.