Jubilee begins to issue certificates as primaries end

Deputy President William Ruto (left) consults with Jubilee Party National Election Board Chairman Andrew Musangi at Jubilee headquarters in Nairobi. [DPPS]

Jubilee Party candidates for the August polls will today begin receiving their nomination certificates.

Governors Kenneth Lusaka (Bungoma), Ali Roba (Mandera), Meru governorship aspirant Kiraitu Murungi have been asked to pick their certificates today.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale (Garissa Township), MPs Mithika Linturi (Igembe South), Ben Washiali (Mumias East) and Senator Yusuf Haji (Garissa) will also get their certificates. They are some of the Jubilee aspirants who were unopposed.

The party’s National Elections Board chairman Andrew Musangi yesterday said his team was in the process of concluding its work before handing over to the Appeal Tribunal to deal with disputes arising from the primaries.

And aspirants whose victory in the primaries have no disputes will start getting their certificates tomorrow.

“Certificates for primaries held on April 24 shall be available on Saturday April 29. Certificates of primaries held on Tuesday April 25 shall be available on Monday May 1,” said Musangi.

Aspirants for primaries held yesterday will be required to pick their certificates on Tuesday.

The party said the appeals tribunal will provide guidance on places where complaints have been lodged.

The party under which President Uhuru Kenyatta is seeking a second term further directed all its returning officers to submit all poll forms to the party headquarters once they have announced official results at the constituency and county level.

This, the board said, will help the party secretariat complete verification of tallying against the various forms from the poll officers.

“The party consider our nomination certificates to be  important security documents, and in the circumstances, has opened a register for issuance of the said certificates,” said Musangi.

Security features

He said the certificates are serialised and bear various security features to guard against any attempts of falsification.

“In all the above processes, we are strictly bearing in mind that we must adhere to the IEBC and statutory timelines, particularly noting that our list of nominees must be with the IEBC by May 10, 2017,” he added.

Parties are expected to resolve disputes arising from the nominations internally. But in the event they fail to resolve the disputes, the cases will be referred to Political Parties Disputes Resolution Tribunal. [Moses Nyamori and Wilfred Ayaga]