Confusion has this evening rocked President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) elections scheduled for Friday following contradicting postponement plans.
This is after UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala issued a statement postponing constituency level elections in West Pokot County.
But the announcement was immediately dismissed by UDA National Elections Board (NEB) Anthony Mwaura. Mr Mwaura told Nation that the elections would go on in all the five counties of Nairobi, West Pokot, Narok, Busia and Homa Bay as earlier scheduled.
He accused Mr Malala of attempting to usurp the powers of the board. He cited a ruling by the Political Parties and Disputes Tribunal that restrained Mr Malala from party elections.
“Reference is made to a notice by the acting Secretary General purporting to postpone the ongoing elections in West Pokot County. Article 21 of the UDA constitution establishes the National Elections Board as an independent organ of the Party that must act independent of any direction from anybody or any party organ,” said Mr Mwaura.
“Resultantly, any notice purporting to address election matters is unlawful, without basis and is therefore null and void. The UDA party will carry on with all the Constituency level elections scheduled to take place tomorrow the 31/5/2024, in compliance with the earlier notice,” said Mr Mwaura.
Mr Malala had cited a ruling by the party’s Electoral and Nomination Disputes Resolution Committee (ENDRC) ruling in postponing the exercise.
“In adherence to the UDA Party constitution and to respect the integrity of the party's organs we hereby postpone the planned constituency elections in the affected constituencies to a later date that will be communicated by the National Elections Board,” said Mr Malala.
But in another twist, ENDRC Vice Chairperson Adrian Kamotho said the ruling Mr Malala relied on is fake and did not emanate from the committee.
“Our attention is drawn to a public notice issued by the acting Secretary General of the UDA party purporting to reference an Order of the Electoral and Nomination Disputes Resolution Committee (ENDRC). The referenced Order is FAKE and the same did not emanate from the ENDRC,” said Mr Kamotho.
Mr Malala has been having a running tiff with the elections board amid reports of an attempt to interfere with the elections.
Before the December elections were postponed, a petition seeking to restrain Mr Malala from discharging the mandate of his office had been filed at the party’s Dispute Resolution Committee by Senate Majority Leader Boni Khalwale and another petitioner over alleged plans to manipulate the exercise.
“The petitioners are apprehensive that the respondent will continue taking advantage of his position to exploit the situation that would be beneficial to him at the detriment of the petitioners and other party members,” states the petition,” said Dr Khalwale and Mr Walter Trenk in the petition.
Mr Mwaura – who also chairs Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) board – was appointed to head the election team following complaints against Mr Malala of overstepping his mandate and trying to usurp powers of the elections board.
