Green light for Dida, Aukot and Raila as IEBC scrutinises candidate papers

Alliance for Real Change Presidential Candidate Abduba Dida has been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission (IEBC) – this coming just hours after the poll body had halted his clearance citing problems with his documents.

The poll body had declined to clear Dida’s candidature when he presented his nomination papers at an exercise held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, with IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati directing him to get his degree certificate certified and his self-declaration form authenticated by a commissioner of oaths.

Dida – who was given a 4:00pm deadline by Chebukati– said that the technical hitch had happened because members of his team were new, and they had overlooked some requirements.

Dida was the second candidate to present his paper after Thirdway’s Ekuru Aukot in an exercise that will run till Monday, May 29.

Aukot has been cleared to run for office as well as Opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Independents Japheth Kaluyu and Joe Nyagah are also expected to present their documents to IEBC Sunday.

Five more candidates, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, are expected to submit their documents for verification Monday.

Stringent Measures

Dida, who ran for the same seat in 2013, is amongst the list of presidential hopefuls who have faulted IEBC’s processes for being excessively rigorous.

In a May 23 meeting with the poll body, a section of the presidential candidates asked IEBC to waive some of the requirements for running for the country’s top seat, arguing that these could see a section of them locked out of the race.

IEBC boss Chebukati, however, said that the poll body cannot change the requirements because they are spelled out in Kenya’s electoral laws.