TNA Chairman Johnson Sakaja at a previous party function. Photo/ Team Uhuru
Chairman Johnson Sakaja said on Tuesday that they pushed the exercise from December 10 to avoid a clash with the voter registration exercise.
The party primaries will see TNA nominate candidates for the posts of Governor, Senator, Member of Parliament, County Women Representatives and County Ward Representatives.
The exercise will not be open to presidential nominations as the party is currently engaging with others on formation of a coalition for the presidential race.
TNA has also moved the deadline for submission of applications by aspirants from November 15 to December 11.
The party explained that the extension was to give enough time to aspirants who would have been locked out due to the lengthy process involved in securing all documents required for clearance by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
“Aspirants who want to vie through our party now have until December 11 to make their applications for nominations and not on November 15 as earlier announced,” Sakaja announced.
TNA has pledged to waive 50 percent of the nomination fees for women aspirants, the youth, minority and marginalised groups.
Sakaja boasted that the party’s rules are progressive as they establish structures in devolved government units and that they are friendly to the youth and other disadvantaged groups.
“These rules have come up as a result of a consultative process; we had to take all our aspirants through the rules last week so that they endorse them. The rules underscore our commitment as a party to have free and fair nomination processes,” said Sakaja.
TNA has also set up a young aspirants’ fund to support the campaigns of candidates aged between 18 and 25 years who make it through the nomination process.
The biometric voter registration exercise is set to commence next Monday and conclude on December 19.
Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan said they were targeting to register an estimated 18 million Kenyans ahead of the March 4, 2013 poll.
The commission is currently conducting countrywide training for the 30,000 clerks. Training on BVR for selected regional co-coordinators has been done.
“Aspirants who want to vie through our party now have until December 11 to make their applications for nominations and not on November 15 as earlier announced”
Hassan said other preparations for the elections are in top gear with mapping of registration centres having been concluded, while the elections regulations, which are already with the Government printer, should be in this Friday’s edition of the Kenya Gazette.
The commission has mapped over 24,000 registration centres to be gazetted by Friday. They will also be published in local dailies and will be available on the IEBC website.
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