Waiguru blames Governor Ndathi for botched Kirinyaga primaries

Kirinyaga gubernatorial hopeful, Anne Waiguru, has blamed her rival Joseph Ndathi for the botched Jubilee nominations on Friday, April 21.

Waiguru said that the incumbent had laid out a plan to rig the nominations by stuffing ballot boxes with marked papers.

“There is no way we were going to accept the nomination yet rigging was evidently taking place,” she said.

“Ndathi and his team had already stuffed 130,000 ballots in boxes to give him an unfair advantage over me in the governorship race.”

She noted that her desire is to take part in a free and fair process devoid of any malpractices to allow for the voice of the people of Kirinyaga to be heard.

“The nominations should be a representation of what the people of Kirinyaga want and rigging will only allow unwanted leaders to clinch the ticket,” she said.

“These nominations are not the end of the race because we have the elections on August 8. It would be disappointing for someone to unfairly get the party ticket and lose the elections.”

On Friday, the former Devolution Cabinet Secretary had boycotted the nominations questioning the credibility and transparency of the process.

Addressing the press outside Kiamugumo Primary School polling center, Waiguru had called for the cancellation of the process saying several hitches experienced in the nominations had thrown the process into disarray.

She particularly questioned the party’s decision to distribute less ballot papers in areas which had over 1,000 registered members.

“I decided not to vote in solidarity with my supporters who could not exercise their democratic rights due to the failure by the party to avail enough ballot papers for the governorship seat,” said Ms Waiguru.

“As a leader it is imperative to listen to your people; they expressed reservations over the credibility of the process and I listened and decided to act.”

In Mwea and Gichugu for instance, Waiguru said, only 200 ballot papers were delivered yet there are over 1,000 registered voters.

“We want a free, fair and decisive process so that whoever wins does so in a credible manner, and gets the support of those who lost,” she said.

“It is important that everyone who comes out to vote exercises their democratic right to ensure the legitimacy of the process. That way, the one who wins the part primaries will easily win the August elections hence add numbers to the party.”

Owing to the disruptions experienced in various polling stations, Jubilee Party Secretary General, Raphael Tuju, announced, Friday evening, the cancellation of the process.

Tuju, in a press address, said the party had underestimated the voter turnout and hence erred in distributing few voting materials leading to chaos and confusion.

Similar sentiments were raised by President Uhuru Kenyatta in his address on Saturday.

The President, who is also Jubilee party leader, said the leadership is keen on holding free and fair nominations that will ensure the will give the people the chance to elect the leaders they want.

“We took a difficult decision to cancel the entire exercise because doing anything to the contrary may have resulted in the subversion of the democratic will of the people,” he said.

He noted that a detailed and revised primaries timetable will be issue by the party’s headquarters, in accordance with Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) timeline.

President Kenyatta further urged all the party members and aspirants to keep the faith and assured them that the party will deliver the promise of holding a fair and credible primary process.