NAIROBI, KENYA: The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy ( CORD) has told its rival JubileeAlliance not to panic over Kethi Kilonzo’s candidature for Makueni Senate by-election.
CORD senators David Musila, Moses Wetang’ula and Henry ole Ndiema said that attempts by TNA to block Kethi’s nomination were in vain and were motivated by sense of defeat.
The senators who addressed reporters at the KICC in Nairobi said the Jubilee Alliance should concentrate on campaigning for their candidates instead of engaging in sideshow over the lawyer’s qualification.
“We have decided to address you following inquiries from you after TNA wrote to IEBC claiming that our candidate is not qualified but as party we are satisfied that Kethi Kilonzo meets the qualifications as set out in article 183 of the Constitution,” Musila said.
Musila, who is also the Kitui senator and Wiper Party chairman, castigated TNA for purporting to usurp the powers of the IEBC to determine the suitability of any candidate adding; “It’s not the work of TNA to determine if one is qualified or not but rather the IEBC.”
He said TNA was running scared of Kethi and had resorted to desperate measures after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party wrote to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Tuesday seeking to bar Kethi from contesting the seat that was left vacant following her father’s death.
The Wiper party boss said that the CORD leadership led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Wetang’ula will lead the coalition’s MPs to Wote town Thursday morning to escort Kethi when she presents her nomination papers.
Although the CORD leaders insisted that Kethi is a duly register voter, they failed to state in which constituency that the youthful lawyer, who is seeking to make history by becoming the first elected woman senator in Kenya, was registered.
“Wait for tomorrow when she presents her papers but I can assure you Kethi is registered somewhere in Kenya and not Makueni where I believe TNA went to check,” Musila said.
On Tuesday, TNA through its secretary for legal affairs Jasper Mbiuki wrote to the IEBC claiming that Kethi is not a registered voter and is therefore not qualified to run.
“It has come to the attention of TNA that Ms Diana Kethi Kilonzo, the Wiper Democratic Party candidate for the Makueni County Senatorial by-election, is not a registered voter,” the letter addressed to IEBC chairman Isaac Hassan read in part.
CORD: Jubilee in panic over Kethi Kilonzo’s candidature
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