• IEBC Disputes Resolution Committee convenes today
• Committee is required to conclude matter with 10 days upon receiving a petition
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Football star McDonald Mariga might know today if he will contest in the December 7 by-election in Kibra.
Mariga challenged the decision by returning officer Beatrice Muli to invalidate his nomination to vie for the Kibra parliamentary seat on a Jubilee ticket.
The electoral agency's Disputes Resolution Committee convenes today (Friday) to discuss the petition.
Mariga is expected to accompany his lawyers to the meeting to demonstrate why he ought to participate in the poll.
The committee of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is required to issue a verdict within 10 days from the day a petition is received.
Sources told the Star that Mariga will head to the High Court if the verdict will not be in his favour.
Meanwhile, former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale took to social media to allege there is a scheme to block Mariga from contesting.
Khalwale who decamped to Jubilee from the opposition said ODM leader Raila Odinga’s brother and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka's son got free slots at the East Africa Legislative Assembly yet Mariga was being denied the chance to vie for a parliamentary seat.
“I come from a most unequal country where Kennedy Kalonzo and Oburu Odinga are gifted free parliamentary seats in EALA but Mariga (a hustler's son) is being denied a chance to compete for a seat in Kibra! The Hustler Nation will speak," he tweeted.
In his petition, Mariga said the decision by Muli was improper, null and void since he is a registered voter.
He explained that he registered as a voter on August 26 in Kariokor Social Hall polling station in Starehe constituency, Nairobi county.
Mariga further wants IEBC to declare that he was validly nominated and be issued with a certificate of nomination to vie for the Kibra parliamentary seat.
He maintains that the decision by the returning officer violates his rights and fundamental freedoms protected by the Constitution and the Elections Act
The former national team footballer said he was issued with an acknowledgement slip after registering bearing elector's number 0145211908261205-9.
The petition also cites that the law allows continuous registration of voters under the Elections Act Section 5 (1) and that voter registers are updated continuously as per the law.
(edited by O. Owino)