Mwadegh remained defiant saying their nominees who include Kennedy Musyoka, the son of NASA running mate Kalonzo Musyoka and ODM National Elections Board Chairperson Judith Pareno (pictured) are lawful/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 7 – The Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Election of Members to the East African Legislative Assembly meets Friday to deliberate the way forward after CORD refused to submit additional nominees.
Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye and National Assembly Senior Deputy Clerk Jeremiah Ndombi, who are the presiding officers made this determination after receiving the names from Minority Whip Thomas Mwadeghu.
Mwadeghu (Wundanyi) remained defiant saying their nominees who include Kennedy Musyoka, the son of NASA running mate Kalonzo Musyoka and ODM National Elections Board Chairperson Judith Pareno, are lawful.
In a letter written by the Minority Leader Francs Nyenze (Kitui West), CORD presented a list of four – Musyoka, Pareno, Abubakar Zein and Ronald Ng’eny -instead of the requisite 12.
In its report which was adopted by MPs in both Houses, the Joint House team on the election of members to the EA Legislative Assembly, which is chaired by National Assembly Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, observed that under the EALA Election Rules, a party shall be entitled to nominate for election any number of candidates not exceeding three times the figure arrived at by multiplying the number of elected Members of Parliament of that party.
The matter had earlier been a subject of debate in the National Assembly after CORD MPs Dan Maanzo (Makueni), Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja) and Majority Leader Aden Duale (Garissa Township) questioned the legality in the presiding officers re-opening the period for submission of nomination papers after the deadline had elapsed.
They argued that it was unprocedural for the exercise to be re-opened without the timetable guiding the exercise being gazetted afresh.
Duale accused the House Clerks “of overseeing an election fraud and an illegality.”
The Jubilee Coalition has five slots while CORD has four, who are to be picked from coalition affiliates ODM and the Wiper Party.
Duale said that CORD should blame itself for its inability to get its members into the House last Thursday to amend the report.
Mwadeghu accused his Jubilee counterparts of playing underhand tactics to push the election of Kenya’s representatives until after the General Election.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said it was premature for himself and his Senate counterpart, Ekwee Ethuro to wade into the matter and urged MPs to follow the election procedure as provided for in the EALA regulations.
Outgoing EALA Speaker Daniel Kidega was forced to postpone the inauguration of the 4th Assembly initially set for Monday because it will contravene the EALA rules of procedure which bar the Assembly from transacting business in the absence of at least four MPs from each the six East African Community partner States.
Kenya is the only partner state that has not submitted the names of its new members for the assembly.
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