UDA primaries: Igembe South MP John Mwirigi to receive direct ticket amid protests

Igembe South MP John Paul Mwirigi is set to receive a direct ticket from the United Democratic Alliance party (UDA) amid protests from an opponent.

The opponent, Mr Reuben Mwiti Kaibi, has accused the party of failing to conduct nominations even after a consensus failed.

Mr Kaibi said UDA’s National Elections Board had not presented ballot boxes for the parliamentary nominations as he expected.

Mr Kaibi said that attempts to convince him to drop his bid in favour of Mr Mwirigi failed and the party agreed to hold nominations for the Igembe South parliamentary seat.

However, Mr Mwirigi denied knowledge of any competitor vying for the parliamentary seat on a UDA ticket.

“I do not know whether there was such an opponent. There were no nominations in my constituency,” Mr Mwirigi said.

However, Mr Kaibi shared with Nation.Africa what he claimed to be ballot papers bearing his name and that of Mr Mwirigi as well as a consensus agreement letter dated March 30, 2022 that he refused to sign.

He also shared a list of UDA aspirants in Meru indicating those who were unopposed and those who were to face off in the nominations.

“I was ready for nominations but when I went to the polling centres, there were no ballot boxes for the MP position. Only the woman representative and Member of County Assembly aspirants’ boxes were available. I asked the returning officer who said the boxes would be provided but nothing happened,” Mr Kaibi said.

He claimed that a parliamentary seat ballot box had been provided in one polling centre but was later withdrawn.

“The nomination process was a sham. I was ready for the nominations because when the MP’s aide brought a consensus letter I refused to sign it. This was also confirmed on April 6 during a meeting of aspirants in Meru town,” he said.

UDA county returning officer Bernard Kiraithe could not be reached for comment.

The party also conducted nominations for woman representative post despite the aspirants Elizabeth Kailemia and Sarah Gakii entering a consensus as voting went on.