Joyce Leteipan Kimojino is among candidates eyeing the Jubilee ticket for Kajiado Central. Photo/ COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 24 – Voting for the Jubilee Alliance Party primaries to pick a candidate for the upcoming Kajiado Central by-election kicked off on Saturday morning.
The party which seeks to nominate a popular candidate did not restrict the voting to delegates but used the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) register of voters.
The nomination exercise was scheduled to begin at 6am and end at 4pm and to take place in 55 of the 87 polling stations that will be used in the March 16 by-election.
READ: Kajiado Central by-election slated for March 16
There five candidates on the nomination ballot were Joyce Leteipan Kimojino, Patrick Tutui, Elijah Memusi Kanchory, Dr Leina Mpoke and Cpt. Antony Kiroken.
The party was unveiled one week ago and is meant to be the new vehicle for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) and his deputy William Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP) which are currently under the Jubilee Coalition.
READ: Kajiado Central Jubilee mini-poll due Jan 24
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will conduct its primaries on Wednesday seeking a candidate to replace their member Joseph NKaissery who stepped down to take up an appointment as Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government.
“ODM will use the universal suffrage mode to nominate the candidate that will fly the CORD flag in the Kajiado central by-election,” ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba announced.
The decision was arrived at following a meeting between the National Elections Board(NEB) and the National Executive Committee(NEC) Thursday morning where the resolution to use the universal suffrage method was reached.
“NEC hereby instructs the party NEB to consult the five cleared aspirants and prepare to conduct the party primary on 28th January 2015,” said Namwamba.
On Wednesday, the party secretariat held a consultative meeting with five candidates who had expressed interest in the seat to get their preferred mode of nomination, in a bid to prevent the squabbles and divisions that have characterized the previous ODM nominations and elections.
READ: Why Kajiado Central seat is ours – ODM
The five candidates, Simon Peter Ole Nkeri, Naomi Kipuri, Abraham Kashopa, Paul Ole Kaika and Larasha Paitah are expected to commence campaigns this weekend.
The five Jubilee candidates are Patrick Tutui, Elijah Memusi Kanchory, Dr Leina Mpoke, Cpt. Antony Kiroken and Joyce Leteipan Kimojino.
The Jubilee Alliance Party was formally launched on January 16 and seeks to bring together the ruling coalition parties of The National Alliance (TNA) and the United Republican Party (URP) ahead of the 2017 general election.
READ: Uhuru, Ruto form joint party ahead of 2017
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