CORD, Jubilee in war of words over Kethi’s revoked ticket

Former VP Kalonzo (R) with Siaya Senator Orengo (centre) address a press conference in Nairobi, Tuesday. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

By GEOFFREY MOSOKU

Nairobi, Kenya: CORD and Jubilee coalitions have exchanged bitter words over the nullification of Kethi Kilonzo’s ticket for the Makueni Senate by-election even as police were called in to investigate the controversy.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) warned of a major political battle even as their lawyers move to the High Court this morning to appeal the decision to lock out Kethi.

The Standard has established that Siaya Senator James Orengo will lead CORD’s legal team to contest the revocation of Kethi’s nomination on grounds she is not a registered voter.

On Tuesday evening, lawyers Tom Kajwang, Harun Ndubi, Julie Soweto and Mutula Kilonzo Junior were reportedly drafting the court papers at Kay Centre, Ngong Road.

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Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka said CORD lawyers were finalising papers to appeal the decision by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s (IEBC’s) Disputes Resolution Tribunal.

“This is a major political war against CORD, disguised as a legal battle in an obvious attempt to impose a leader on the good people of Makueni,” Kalonzo told a press conference at the Serena hotel.

CORD’s statement came as the IEBC announced that chairman Isaack Hassan had written to Criminal Investigations Department director Ndegwa Muhoro to start investigations into the lost voter registration slip.

Hassan had been quoted in a local daily saying he was not aware of the alleged theft and the matter had never been reported to the police. The registration slip in Kethi’s possession was allegedly stolen from a booklet that had been used to register retired President Kibaki during the launch of the registration exercise.

A committee of the IEBC revoked her nominations citing alleged inconsistencies, among them her failure to explain where she had registered, how she registered with an expired passport and why she used photocopies instead of original documents.

But lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, an ally of CORD and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga said on his Twitter account: “As a document of identification a passport is valid until cancelled upon the issuance of new passport. It is invalid only for travel. Mrs Ndetei testified that she filed the complaint after failing to persuade Kethi to run on a Jubilee ticket.”

He added: “The Makueni Senate election is not about Kethi. It’s about IEBC being investigator, the jury and the judge in its own incompetence. The members of the Tribunal who heard the complaint by Jubilee supporter Agnes Ndetei are all members of the IEBC.”

On Tuesday, Muhoro told The Standard the IEBC had confirmed that the letter was dispatched to his office.

“They have just confirmed the letter is on the way,” he said.

The IEBC also published the names of four candidates that were validly nominated to contest the July 22 by election occasioned by the death of Kethi’s father, Mutula Kilonzo.

CORD leaders warned the Jubilee leadership, whom they blamed for Kethi’s tribulations, to prepare for a long battle insisting that her name must appear on the ballot.

They claimed the decision to lock out Kethi had reopened the wounds of the contested March 4 presidential vote in which the Supreme Court rejected Raila Odinga’s petition challenging the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“This is a continuation of the injustices against CORD by the IEBC. The commission must be overhauled before any credible poll can be conducted in this country. The time for overhaul is now and not tomorrow,” Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandai said.

Senators James Orengo, Johnstone Muthama, Otieno Kajwang, Janet Ong’era, Judy Sijenyi and over 40 MPs castigated the IEBC for alleged lack of independence. Orengo and Musila warned that unless the Kethi issue is resolved, what happened in the Arab world won’t be far from home.

“They talk of the Arab spring but it can turn out to be the African spring and the Kenyan spring for that matter,” Orengo said.

Kalonzo added: “Kethi is a phenomena and she represents the youth, the professions and women. They will be shocked as this is not about her and the Makueni people but the people of Kenya.” The former VP sensationally claimed some of the commissioners were summoned to State House to receive instructions upon which they acted to bar Kethi.

Kalonzo claimed he will reveal the names of those commissioners at the right time, an allegation State House swiftly dismissed.

“President Uhuru Kenyatta will not respond to such wild and careless statements. He will also not be drawn into discussing a matter that touches on the independent institutions that were crafted through an open and transparent process,” Presidential Press Service (PPS) director Isaiah Kabira said. CORD alleged TNA sought a technicality to lock out a strong candidate in Kethi.