Nairobi-Nakuru highway blocked in protests over Jubilee primaries

Supporters of Gilgil Mp Mathenge Nderitu take to the streets of the town to protest the decision by Jubilee to hand over the party certificate to Senator Martha Wangari. They threatened to decamp to NASA if the decision was not rescinded. Photo by Antony Gitonga

Transport along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway was paralysed for over three hours after supporters of Gilgil MP Mathenge Ndiritu blocked it over the outcome of the recent Jubilee primaries.

They accused Jubilee of imposing a leader on them after Ndiritu's rival, Martha Wangari, was declared the winner.

The MP filed a petition at the Jubilee tribunal but lost. Ndiritu went to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal but Wangari's nomination was upheld. He later went to the High Court but there was no reprieve for him.

The MP claimed the nominations were intentionally bungled to lock him out.

Riot police came and cleared the road with traffic stretching over 20 kilometres on both sides.

"We will reconsider our stand as we head into the August election. We have been denied our democratic right," said one of the protesters who did not wish to be named.

Some said they were considering supporting NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga and even invited him to visit the region perceived as a Jubilee zone.

They claimed President Uhuru Kenyatta's party interfered with the nominations and threatened to quit Jubilee.

The MP's supporters held similar protests a fortnight ago, saying the elections held in Gilgil were not free and fair.

"If Jubilee headquarters fail to uphold Ndiritu's win, then we shall be forced to rethink our position," said a protester, Mathew Gikonyo.

Gikonyo accused some party officials of taking sides in the dispute.

"We were hoping they will uphold Ndiritu's victory or at the very least order a repeat of the exercise as was the case in other areas such as Murang'a. However, this did not happen. We will not take this," he said.

Ndiritu maintained he won the primaries and did not understand why the loser had been handed the nomination certificate. He also accused unnamed party officials of unfairly locking him out.