BY SAM ALFAN.
High Court will determine on Friday the candidature of independent presidential aspirant Solomon Gichira.
The Chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Wafula Chebukati, has maintained that Gichira was time-barred and disqualified from the race for non-compliance with statutory requirements.
The prospective candidate insists that the IEBC boss disobeyed express court orders allowing him to present a list of signatures of his supporters beyond the time-lines set by the national elections agency.
Chebukati says in court papers that he did not receive the mandatory nomination lists from Gichira between May 18 and 22 and he did not tender any evidence to prove he complied on May 19.
He says Gichira went to the IEBC offices at Anniversary Towers in Narobi on May 26 with a list of 57,382 names and signatures of his supporters for verification. However, the High Court had not extended time to accommodate and he was time-barred.
Chebukati explained to Justice George Odunga that Gichira did not present his nomination papers at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre between May 28 and 29 or send his authorized representative. “The allegation by Gichira that IEBC engineered his arrest and detention to prevent him from presenting his nomination papers is false and has not been substantiated,” he said.
But Gichira through his lawyer Stephen Gachie Mwanza said he could not have gate-crashed the nomination exercise at the KICC after he had been mistreated by IEBC officials. “There are so many lies and inconsistencies by the IEBC that leaves no doubt that the whole process of verification and clearance of my candidature was flawed. There was obviously a conspiracy to lock me out of the presidential race,” he said.
He wants the national elections agency blocked from making any further preparations for the presidential election, including printing of ballot papers, pending the outcome of his petition.
Justice George Odunga had nullified restrictions imposed on independent presidential candidates to enlist supporters who have no political affiliation. Similarly, the court outlawed the requirement by IEBC that independent presidential aspirants submit signatures of their 2,000 nominees from 24 Counties through electronic format.
Gichira was charged with attempted suicide, malicious damage to property and creating disturbance following his altercation with IEBC officials and police officers on May 26 at the Anniversary Towers offices in Nairobi. He was released on Sh200, 000 cash bail after denying the charges.
