Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara won UDA polls by 1 vote, disputes team declares

Naivasha Member of Parliament Jayne Kihara will defend her seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket.

UDA party Elections Disputes Resolution Committee on Monday found that the legislator garnered 9,904 votes in the April 14 party primaries.

Mr John Kihangi, who had earlier been declared the winner in the nominations, had 9,903 votes.

The committee found out that the tally announced on April 14 had excluded results from Maua Primary School and Milimani Secondary School polling stations where Ms Kihara had garnered  57 and 23 votes respectively while her rival got  35 and 16 votes respectively.

"In the end, the committee finds that based on the figures above which were also affirmed by the second respondent, Jayne Wanjiru Kihara obtained the highest number of votes. As such she ought to have been declared the validly nominated candidate," states the ruling.

It adds, "In the upshot, the order that commends itself is an order directing the second respondent to forthwith issue a nomination certificate to Jayne Wanjiru Kihara, the duly nominated Member of National Assembly (MNA) for Naivasha Constituency in Nakuru County. Each party shall bear its costs."

Transporting ballot materials

Ms Kihara told the committee that at various polling stations, her opponent took part in transporting ballot materials to polling centers instead of the appointed party officials. The claims were denied by Mr Kihangi.

"This happened specifically in Rutere and Gituru polling centers where due to the logistical challenges initially experienced, the 1st respondent took over the transportation of ballot materials," states the ruling.

She also cites voter intimidation and threats that led to the temporary suspension of  the nomination process.

The legislator also claimed that the presiding officials at a number of polling stations colluded with her opponent for purposes of giving him undue advantage.

She also argued that the entries under Unity Farm, Milimani Secondary School and Maua Primary School polling stations did not have any results in the final tally.

On his part, Mr Kihangi said that regarding Unity Farm polling station, it was but a mere typographical error that ought to have been deleted.

"For Milimani Secondary School polling station, he conceded that while the same had not been included, the Form 5A had the result and it was duly signed. He made the same argument for Maua Primary polling station," the ruling adds.

Final result

The committee was then left with the task of deciding whether the omission of the results of Unity Farm Polling Station, Milimani Secondary School and Maua Primary School polling stations had an impact on the final result of the nominations for Naivasha Constituency Member of National Assembly.

With the two candidates agreeing on the tally of both Maua primary and Milimani secondary, the committee sought to establish if the addition of their results to the earlier tally would have an impact on the results announced earlier.

It established that the failure to include the results of Maua and Milimani polling stations in the final tally had a significant bearing on the final outcome that overturns the results as announced by the Naivasha constituency returning officer.