Former footballer McDonald Mariga on Tuesday, September 17, faces a new petition against him in his bid to contest for the Kibra parliamentary seat, in the by-election set for November 7, 2019.
Reports by Citizen Digital indicated that the petition was filed by Morris Peter Kinyanjui, before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal, challenging the ex-Harambee Stars player's nomination by the Jubilee Party.
Kinyanjui, who sued Mariga and the Jubilee Party Elections Board, also named the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as a respondent.
Kinyanjui was among the 16 nominees who had sought the Jubilee ticket for the Kibra by-election and argued that the nomination exercise was not conducted in adherence to the party’s constitution and the laid down regulations.
He further admitted his disappointment with IEBC's decision to clear the former renowned star to contest in the by-election.
In his explanation, the petitioner felt that the due process was not followed in selecting Mariga as the party’s ticket holder.
Kinyanjui thus urged the board to hear and determine the case before the by-election in November.
This comes shortly after IEBC cleared Mariga to contest the Kibra seat after he had been barred on grounds that he was not a registered voter.
The commission, on Monday, September 16, set aside the initial decision to block Mariga’s candidacy, declaring him a registered voter.
While delivering the commission's decision, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati confirmed that Mariga registered as a voter on August 26, 2019, at Kariokor, upon which he was issued with an acknowledgment slip.
The parliamentary hopeful, through his lawyers, had met three officials from the IEBC at Anniversary Towers in Nairobi, to iron out issues concerning his candidature.
Mariga had filed a complaint with the IEBC's Dispute Resolution Committee following the decision by the returning officer to invalidate his candidacy, since he was not in the commission's electronic voters' register, a decision Mariga described as improper.
However, this is not the first time Kinyanjui launched complains against Mariga. On September 4, right after Jubilee Party nominations, he presented an appeal to the party's appeals board, claiming the elections board was in violation of the electoral law in awarding Mariga the ticket.
Kinyanjui rejected the party's decision terming it "unfair, deceptive and shrouded in secrecy, in addition to being in contravention of the party constitution".
Kinyanjui also threw shade at Mariga by comparing him to the deceased Kibra MP Ken Okoth who was learned, suggesting that the footballer did not merit the responsibility.
"His candidature will be an impossible sell to the people of Kibra given the calibre of MP we had in the immediate past,” Kinynjui trolled.
