BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission dispute resolution committee has nullified the nomination of Nelson Onyango as the Jubilee Party candidate for Rongo constituency.
The committee presided by Wambua Kilonzo and Irene Masit and Justus Nyang’ya as members, revoked the clearance of Onyango as the party’s candidate because he joined Jubilee outside time limits.
“We take the view that the Aspirant ceased from being a member of Jubilee Party after the deadline for submission of membership lists to IEBC and as such his nomination thereafter by the Jubilee party was outside the statutory timelines,” the committee ruled.
The committee absolved the party saying it had established that he had no way of establishing the truth beyond that which was presented before it. “He is a victim of the deceitfulness by the Aspirant,” added committee.
Nicholas Mbago filed a complaint seeking revoke the clearance certificate issued to Onyango by the Party to contest the forthcoming elections.
“This Committee prohibits the IEBC from gazetting the name of the 1st Respondent as the Jubilee Party Candidate or an independent candidate and declarethe clearance of the 1st Respondent as null and void,” he urged.
He alleged that the nomination of Onyango was improper due to the fact that, at the time of his clearance by IEBC and the Returning officer to vie for the Rongo Constituency, he was registered as an Independent Candidate and not as a Jubilee Party aspirant as he purported to be.
The Complainant further avers that by clearing Onyango, the party disregarded the election timelines as gazetted, which required all political parties to submit the party’s list 120 days to the General election.
He said the registration of Onyango as a Jubilee Party member as of 31st May, 2022, was contrary to the 120-day timeline and he thus should not have been cleared by the party.
Onyango opposed the application arguing that the complainant is simply engaged in forum shopping since a similar petition had been filed before the High Court in Migori.
He submitted that the multiplicity of suits is likely to present a problem if the Court and the Committee arrive at conflicting decisions. He however conceded that the Committee has jurisdiction to hear the complaint.
