Musangi speaking from the Jubilee Secretariat in Pangani instructed presiding officers to stick to the party register in Nairobi/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 26 – Only members of the Jubilee Party in Nairobi County will be allowed to participate in Wednesday’s nominations, the Elections Board Chairman Andrew Musangi has declared.
Musangi says the party had received intelligence reports that some people planned to infiltrate the process in a bid to interfere with the outcome.
“Ultimately, our aim was not to deny any voter the chance to vote and we even resorted to ultimately checking their identification of the voter with a view to seeing what location they come from and thereafter allowing them to vote,” he pointed out.
“Having said that, credible intelligence has emerged and we were constantly monitoring this even yesterday, that there were particularly concerted efforts to infiltrate the Jubilee Party voting in Nairobi.”
In other areas where the Jubilee Party has a massive following, people were allowed to vote despite their names missing in the register, but on condition, they had their national ID cards.
Musangi says the move will ensure the true will of the party members in Nairobi will be reflected in the outcome.
“This is a very cosmopolitan county and it holds Kenyans from all corners of the country and in the circumstances, we have instructed our presiding officers in Nairobi given the real and present of such danger in such infiltration to avert the will of the Nairobi voter, to use the party’s register until and unless any advice come from the party headquarters,” he stated.
Despite the exercise going on smoothly, key competitors in the seat for the governor’s position have raised concerns over some of their supporters missing in the register while others claim that some people are being allowed to vote twice.
In Nairobi, the leading candidates for the governor’s seat, Senator Mike Sonko and former MP Peter Kenneth raised similar complaints.
The two raised concerns over why their supporters were being barred from voting just because they do not appear on the register, which Musangi later explained.
Ironically, in other areas where party members are being allowed to vote using their ID cards, some aspirants have complained about it.
In Muranga County, Governor Mwangi wa Iria says some of his key polling stations have fewer ballot papers for the governor’s position.
He has urged the party to swiftly rectify the anomaly.
“Anyone who cares to listen, I want the problem addressed now,” the governor stated.
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