Jubilee is willing to pay for nominations, Senator Kivuti says

Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti has said that the Jubilee party has no problem paying the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to handle their nominations.

Speaking in Embu on Sunday, Kivuti, however, said that as a way of growing the country’s democracy, national parties should be funded by taxpayers in order to ensure accountability in party affairs.

“We need to finance all the processes of governance from the nominations to the elections in order to ensure growth in democracy.

“Opposition coalition CORD should also come onboard and allow IEBC to conduct their nominations to ensure credible process ahead of the 2017 General Election,” he said.

The Senator further noted that if Parliament fails to enact a law to allow nominations to be funded by the taxpayer, they have decided as Jubilee to foot the bill.

Opinion has been divided on whether party nominations should be conducted by IEBC at the expense of the taxpayers, with CORD and Jubilee appearing to pull on different sides.

While Jubilee, through National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale, has tasked IEBC with the responsibility, ODM has said it will handle its own nominations.

ODM leader Raila Odinga shunned Jubilee leader President Uhuru Kenyatta’s calls for IEBC-held nominations saying doing so is tantamount to micromanagement of political parties.

It is estimated that a single party might cost the taxpayer Ksh4 billion to hold its nominations in all the six elective positions – President, Governor, Senator, MP, Women Representative and MCA positions.

Jubilee will however not hold presidential nominations as they have already settled on Uhuru Kenyatta as their presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, Kivuti has called on the Opposition to be patient in the matter of IEBC reforms, adding that all parties should accord the electrical agency the necessary support.

He said that the process of selecting new IEBC commissioners takes time, saying they should desist from issuing threats of boycotting the election and allow due process to be followed to get credible individuals who can hold flawless elections.