Residents of Mtepeni ward in Kilifi South constituency have protested against the Saturday results of the ODM nomination.
The residents said Bazil Mwalala, one of the candidates, was allegedly robbed of his victory and the certificate issued to Brown Safari.
Led by Harrison Mwinga, an elder in the community, they said Mwalala won in all the three polling stations, but the results were delayed only to be announced last night that Safari had won.
“We campaigned so hard and voted overwhelmingly for Bazil. It’s very unfortunate that a person who never bothered to campaign was issued the certificate,” Mwinga said.
The residents have given the party until the end of the week to return the certificate to Mwalala or repeat the entire exercise.
They have also issued a one-week ultimatum to the party to resolve the matter or else they will vote against ODM in the August election.
Mwinga said the residents persuaded Bazil to run for the seat due to his philanthropic works in the area.
“He was reluctant to go for the seat, but we persuaded him to vie and suggested he joins ODM,” Mwinga said.
Ummi Yusuf, a village elder, decried the foul play on their candidate in the polls.
“We won’t accept this daytime robbery. Where is the democracy that the ODM leader has been fighting for in this country?” she asked.
Yusuf said they will appeal against the results.
The race for the Mtepeni seat had attracted seven candidates including Bazil Mwavula, Brown Safari and Tsuma M Tsuma.
Other candidates were Abel Kulai, James Chitoto, Victor Katana, and Humphrey Kagia.
ODM had opted to carry out nominations for the MCA aspirants only in Mombasa and Kilifi.
The National Elections Board had earlier said that some tickets for governor, senate and MP positions will be given out through consensus.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
