- Mariga argues he is a registered voter, issued with acknowledgement slip in Starehe constituency
- Kibra returning officer Beatrice Muli invalidated his nomination as his name was missing from voters register
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
The IEBC dispute resolution committee is on Monday expected to give its verdict on whether football star Macdonald Mariga will run in the upcoming Kibra by-election.
Mariga petitioned the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission after Kibra returning officer Beatrice Muli invalidated his nomination on grounds that his name was missing from the register of voters.
Mariga’s legal team led by lawyer Elisha Ongoyi pushed Muli to admit an error on her part and pleaded with the committee to rectify the mistake by overturning the decision.
Ongoyi told the committee chaired by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati that Mariga is properly registered as a voter, citing the acknowledgement slip issued in Starehe constituency.
Starehe deputy registration officer Ismael Yassin told the committee that he gave the acknowledgement slip to Mariga upon meeting all the requirements including filling the mandatory Form A issued to new voters.
“He presented himself before me. Initially, he came without his ID but sent for it and I gave him Form A, took his biometrics, then after that I wrote the acknowledgement slip,” Yassin told the committee.
The seat fell vacant after former MP Ken Okoth died of cancer on July 26 at the Nairobi Hospital.
The IEBC will make the ruling even as a section of Jubilee MPs turned their guns on party secretary general Raphael Tuju accusing him of sponsoring legal hurdles for Mariga.
The allies of Deputy President William Ruto have linked the Cabinet Secretary without portfolio to the petition filed at the dispute resolution committee by Kibra voter Leina Konchellah.
Konchellah last Friday applied to be enjoined as an interested party in the matter arguing that Mariga does not meet the threshold to be a candidate for MP.
She told the committee that Mariga is not a properly registered voter as he only rushed to obtain a registration slip days after the electoral agency suspended registration of voters to update of the register.
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi claimed they had intelligence that Tuju was working behind the scenes to frustrate Mariga’s candidature.
“After you failed to deny him the party ticket you have sponsored a petition in court to stop him. We have the evidence you shared with your allies in the media. You will not succeed. We will soon take you to ODM where you belong. That is where your heart is,” Sudi said.
Lang’ata MP Nixon Korir called on Jubilee supporters to be wary “of elements within the party who are out to spoil for Mariga.”