Adan Duale vows to block Kalonzo’s son from EALA/FILE
Kenya, May 11 – National Super Alliance (NASA) running mate Kalonzo Musyoka’s son, Kennedy Kalonzo is among 36 applicants who have been cleared to participate in elections for the nine seats at the East Africa Legislative Assembly.
This happened even as Majority Leader Aden Duale vowed that he would ensure Kennedy’s name is blocked when the MPs in the National Assembly and the Senate cast their votes to decide Kenya’s representatives to the regional assembly.
Duale accused the Wiper leader of nepotism in the nomination of Opposition candidates.
“Unlike Oburu Odinga who I now consider to be intelligent, Kennedy Musyoka doesn’t want to listen to me and he will be taught a lesson. You can quote me on that, we will lobby and we will make sure he does not get that position,” Duale said as he stressed that his statement “was not personal or driven by vendetta.”
The Garissa Township MP seemed equally infuriated by the decision by the Opposition to nominate four candidates.
“They cannot force us into the son of Kalonzo Musyoka – personally I cannot –we know they want to ring fence him and Judith Pareno. In that scenario then, that is not an election… that is an endorsement. So we are telling the Speaker and the Clerk that is unacceptable and the elections cannot go on,” he stressed.
CORD’s other nominees include ODM National Elections Board Chairman Pareno, Ronald Ngeny and Zein Abubakar, who will be seeking to renew their terms as EALA MPs.
The Jubillee Coalition presented 15 names including former Defence Permanent Secretary Mutea Iringo and former Clerk of the National Assembly Justin Bundi.
Mandera North MP Adan Nooru announced he had handed in his resignation to the Speaker on Tuesday in order to be qualified to vie for the regional seat. The regional assembly rules bars sitting MPs from the assembly.
Embu County Assembly Speaker Justus Mate presented the nominations body co-chaired by Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye and National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai with a unique situation that required a five minute closed-door deliberation on whether to accept his application.
Unlike other State and public officers, Mate chose to produce a ‘conditional resignation letter’ which would make his resignation from the helm of the County Assembly effective if he got the elected into the EALA.
Attempts by Sialai and Nyegenye to disqualify him for failing to meet a provision that requires State and public officers to resign their positions before participating in electoral politics were rebuffed after he explained that his colleagues in the county and even MPs have been allowed to hold their seats despite winning nominations to contest in either the parliamentary or gubernatorial seats.
Following consolations, Nyegenye granted Mate a provisional nomination certificate.
He however declined to accept the ‘conditional resignation letter’ saying it had no legal backing.
“We will grant you the provisional nomination certificate because the IEBC has not pronounced itself on the scenarios you have cited. This is because they have not yet got to receiving the aspirants nominations, so we will have to wait and see,” Nyengene ruled.
Current EALA MP Abubakar Ogle leads the list of Jubilee Coalition nominees who include Charles Mochama, Joe Muriuki, Eunice Karanja, and former Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua (Nairobi).
Others are Irene Masit, Nelson Dzuya, Canon Waqo , Chepkemoi Stacey, Florence Sergon and Pius Ewoton (Turkana).
The process also attracted 17 independent candidates.
Parliamentary Service Commission Chairman Justin Muturi, who is the National Assembly Speaker said independent candidates are also required to submit their papers during the two-day process will be conducted by a joint House committee co-chaired by National Assembly Whip Katoo ole Metito and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen.
The term of the current regional assembly that is based in Arusha, Tanzania, expires in three weeks.
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