Waititu Cleared to Run in Kabete Mini Poll

High Court Judge George Odunga has ruled that only the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has authority to bar or clear candidates to contest in polls.

Petitioner Benson Ritho wanted Waititu blocked from contesting in the mini-poll on grounds that he allegedly grabbed 50 acres of land in Embakasi and was using his political might to frustrate him.

Ritho also accused the former Embakasi MP of engaging in hate speech.

Waititu was nominated to run for the Kabete parliamentary seat in Monday's by-elections on a JAP ticket after the seat fell vacant following the death of area MP George Muchai.

The ruling follows a dismissal made last month of another petition filed by two voters last seeking to bar Waititu from running in the forthcoming Kabete mini-polls on grounds of integrity.

Geoffrey Mwaki and Joseph Njuguna had gone to court to compel IEBC to bar the former Embakasi MP from contesting under the JAP ticket on grounds that he did not meet the required threshold as stipulated in Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya on Integrity and Leadership.

Other contestants in the by-elections are George Mungai (an Independent candidate), Paul Kariuki (People's Party of Kenya), Wilson Karanja (ODM), John Wamagata (Safina), Kavore Kariuki (Narc Kenya), Kiriro Wa Ngugi (DP), Newton Njenga (National Vision Party), Isaiah Ndirangu (PDU).

By Benjamin Wafula