UDF contests Jubilee nominations

By ABDIKADIR SUGOW

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s United Democratic Front (UDF) has strongly protested nomination of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto as the presidential candidate and running mate of the Jubilee Coalition.

In a dramatic twist to the continuing saga surrounding the Jubilee Coalition, UDF said the exercise was a breach of the agreement signed between UDF, Uhuru’s TNA and Ruto’s URP.

Yesterday, UDF National Chairman Hassan Osman, in a letter to the Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) Lucy Ndung’u, copied to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) boss Issack Hassan, said the exercise contravened the agreement signed between the three parties, which was supposed to expire today.

“There exists a misunderstanding as to how the nomination of the presidential candidate ought to be conducted; whether by consensus or through delegates. Further, note that there exists a dispute resolution mechanism in the Jubilee Coalition agreement, which has not been exhausted,” Osman said in his letter to the RPP, which was also copied to the chairmen of TNA and URP.

Contacted for comment, the Registrar said she was away from office but confirmed that she was aware of the letter, which was received on her behalf by the Registrar Manager-Political Parties Juliet Murimi.

“I will act on the letter promptly on December 27 when I return to the office,” she said.

The first agreement between Mudavadi, Uhuru and Ruto was signed on December 4 and an addendum ratifying a one-week extension to today signed by the chairmen and secretaries-general of the three parties on December 18, which UDF says Uhuru and Ruto have breached.

Mudavadi’s party says Uhuru and Ruto are not signatories to the agreement signed on December 18.