Jubilee Party, led by ex-president, Uhuru Kenyatta, accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, of shortchanging them in the allocation of nomination slots in Parliament.
Secretary general, Jeremiah Kioni, threatened to proceed to court to sue IEBC and Chebukati accusing the electoral body of committing irregularities against the party in favour of their opponents.
He claimed that IEBC gave away Jubilee Party slots to their rivals, Kenya Kwanza, to enable the latter to have an upper hand in the election of the speakers in Parliament.
“In the Senate, one of our slots was taken away and we will not give it up even if it means going to court. We will do so because it was taken from us and given to one of the parties of our opponents,” Kioni alleged.
He further gave examples of several areas where the said irregularities occurred against the former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s party.
"In Samburu, we have seven MCAs elected on Jubilee party we were given six nomination slots while UDA with six MCAs was given five nomination slots. These are some of the examples of irregularities committed against us," Kioni added.
In a counterattack, the IEBC released a statement dated Thursday, September 15, with Chebukati dismissing the allegations.
“The formulae applied through the electronic system is simple, secure, and accurate and is without room for either adverse human intervention or bias,” read the statement in parts.
Chebukati added that the party list as per the Constitution and Elections Act was closed and cannot be changed unless through the court.
During the election of the speakers on Thursday, September 8 in both houses, Azimio La Umoja Coalition allied members argued that the nomination list was published late and this influenced the results.
“The commission completed the process and published the nominated persons to the Senate and the National Assembly on September 7 and the list of persons nominated as members of the county assembly was done on September 9" the statement read.
Following these allegations, Chebukati noted that the nomination list was completed according to the stipulated timeline. He urged Jubilee proceed to court and file a case to contest his decision.
