Court orders Jubilee to repeat Budalangi nominations

A Nairobi High Court has directed Jubilee Party to hold fresh nomination for its Budalang’i Parliamentary candidate in Busia County within three days.

Justice Jessie Lesiit invalidated the May 26 decision by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT) to cancel the nomination certificate issued by Jubilee Party to Alfred Juma Maloba and instead awarded it his rival Mediatrice Wangira.

Jubilee Party is now required to conduct fresh primaries and comply with its Constitution and Elections Act.

Maloba had garnered 5,569 votes against Wangira’s 5,489 votes during the hotly-contested party primaries conducted on April 26. He was duly issued with the nomination certificate dated May 9 but later learnt that the party had not forwarded his name for clearance by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The aggrieved candidate had petitioned the court to compel the party to issue him with the nomination certificate but was shocked to learn that Wangira had filed a complaint with the PPDT.

Several Jubilee Party officials who supervised the exercise had confirmed that Maloba had won the nomination and was properly declared the winner.