Jubilee rules out direct nominations for any contestant

The Jubilee Party has ruled out issuing direct nominations to any of its contestants ahead of the August 8 General Election.

Unlike the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) that handed 850 direct nominations to its members on Monday, April 3, the Jubilee Party says the fate of all contestants lies with the voters.

ODM became the first political party to issue nomination certificates to aspirants ahead of the August polls.

Party leader, Raila Odinga, presided over the event at the Bomas of Kenya that saw more than 850 candidates handed direct nomination tickets.

The nominations tickets were handed to aspirants who were unopposed by the closure of the deadline of return of nominations paper.

Among the beneficiaries of the early nomination tickets include governors; Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega), Josephat Nanok (Turkana), Amason Kingi (Kilifi), Evans Kidero (Nairobi), Joseph Nkedianye (Kajiado), James Ongwae (Kisii)

The party sanctioned new entrants to try luck in unseating incumbent governors.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, while in a tour of Kiambu and Nairobi counties on Wednesday, April 5, said Jubilee is a party that upholds democracy and will ensure that the choice of the people carries the day on April 21 during the primaries.

“The nomination exercise will be free and fair. No one will be accorded a direct ticket because the people are the ones who will decide those to run on the party’s ticket in the August polls,” President Kenyatta said.

“No one seeking our party’s ticket – from MCA to President – will be given a direct ticket until after the nominations are held and the electorate have picked their choice.”

He slammed the opposition for ditching direct nominations even before the nominations saying that ODM’s move was a show of greed.

“No one who believes in democracy hands out direct tickets even before nominations.”