NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16 – Presidential aspirants in the August General Election have until the stroke of midnight to submit their running mates to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati last month stated that the choice of running mate is interlinked with the on-going nomination exercise whose period closes on the same day.
In a statement to political parties, he invoked Article 148 of the constitution that states that “each candidate in a presidential election shall nominate a person who is qualified for nomination for election as president, as a candidate for deputy president.”
He noted that there shall be no separate nomination process for the deputy president candidate because the presidential candidate and his running mate is a conjoined ticket and process.
The Commission further pointed out the qualifications of a president and deputy president were the same.
The qualification requires one to be a Kenyan citizen, able to run for Member of Parliament, nominated by a political party and nominated by not fewer than 2,000 voters from each of the majority counties.
So far, Deputy President William Ruto has named his running mate with ODM leader Raila Odinga who is the Azimio Presidential candidate expected to announce his on Monday.
