Presidential candidates risk being locked out

Pesidential candidate Third way alliances Ekuru Aukot, follow the proceeding meeting which which was held by IEBC for all presidential candidates at Safari club hotel,Lilian towers in Nairobi on 23 May 2017.Photo by Edward Kiplimo.

A number of presidential candidates may be locked out of the August polls due a technicality in the election law.

The law requires that a presidential candidate secures signatures of endorsement from at least 48,000 voters in at least 24 counties.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has submitted 162,716 signatures from 41 counties. Opposition leader Raila Odinga submitted 65,000 from 27 counties.

But in a technicality that might catch many candidates unaware, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yesterday clarified that the endorsement must not only come from registered voters but bona fide members of the candidate's party.

Independent candidates may be the largest casualties of this interpretation after IEBC insisted that those endorsing them should not be from any party.

This means candidates who present signatures from persons not listed in their parties, or independents who present signatures of individuals listed in different political parties, may be disqualified.

So far there are 18 presidential candidates; seven nominated by their parties and 11 independents. IEBC said it would implement the law to the letter.

"As a commission, we cannot now say let us do away with these requirements unilaterally," said IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati.

He dismissed those who were demanding that the commission should bend the law on the grounds that the provision contradicted the Constitution, which only requires signatures from registered voters.

Thirdway Alliance presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot faulted IEBC for relying on an interpretation he said was not in line with the Constitution.

"In any case presidential candidates should not just appeal to members of political parties but to the nation because one doesn't just become a president of a political party," Mr Aukot (pictured) said.

By yesterday, IEBC was yet to release the number of candidates who had complied with the law following Monday's deadline.

The electoral agency said it was still compiling the list.