Umoja Summit Party presidential hopeful Walter Mong'are, popularly known as Nyambane has explained he failed to honour summons by the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) because he was out campaigning.
Speaking during an interview with KTN News on Wednesday, June 8, Mong'are noted that he could not make it to the Bomas of Kenya within the short time frame that IEBC Chairman had given him on Monday, June 6.
The former comedian, however, confirmed receiving the summon from Chebukati, adding that he had expressly asked the IEBC Chair to allow him more time to look at the issues and effectively respond to them.
However, the aspirant narrated that he was shocked when he saw Chebukati announcing his disqualification on TV and social media - without being given any communication.
"I told them that it would only be fair for me to take time, look at the sections you quoted and prepare myself. I asked 'would you kindly give me another opportunity to come and not the 2. pm?'"
"We were surprised because we watched the revocation of our certificate on the media. We have faith institutions and it would be nice if communication and correspondence respected that," Mong'are complained.
The Umoja Summit party leader accused the Commission of humiliating him, adding that it had been their failure to do due diligence when they first cleared him. He declared that he was still a candidate and would still campaign across the country.
"The last three days have been humiliating, to say the least, we had been cleared by the same commission a week ago.
"As far as Walter Mong'are is concerned, I have been cleared. We still hold the certificate because we do not have any formal communication from IEBC," he added.
When poked to comment on whether his misfortunes were tied to the complaints raised by Safina Party aspirant Jimi Wanjigi, he claimed that he had no knowledge of the grievances.
The former Director of Youth Affairs in the Office of the President maintained that he was a graduate, despite IEBC nullifying his certificate on grounds that he had not met the academic requirements of a presidential candidate.
"The first requirement is a certified copy of a degree certificate authenticated and or equated by the Commission on University Education. We presented this booklet with everything bound upon which they cleared us. Do I have a degree, yes, I do have one," he added.
Mong'are noted that he would not challenge the commission at the IEBC commission’s dispute resolution tribunal nor in court.
Chebukati only cleared four candidates - Raila Odinga (Azimio) William Ruto (UDA), George Wajackoyah (Roots) and David Mwaure (Agano) party.
