Kidero, Joho, Sonko unfit to run for political office human rights body

Kidero, Joho, Sonko unfit to run for political office  human rights body

Governors Evans Kidero, Alfred Mutua, Hassan Joho, Cyprian Awiti, Kenneth Lusaka, Mwangi wa Iria, Okoth Obado, Nairobi Senator, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, and ex- Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru are among 20 political candidates listed by civil society organizations as candidates who do not fit to run for public office in the coming August 8 General Election.

On May 15, 2017, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) had called on the Office of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to launch investigations into the integrity of 20 political candidates with questionable characters, to determine their eligibility for holding political office.

On Wednesday, May 24, the commission has made true its threat and has come up with the list presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to bar them from contesting.

Other notable figures in the listed names as unfit to run for respective parliamentary and gubernatorial seats include include MPs Ferdinand Waititu (Kabete), Alfred Keter (Nandi), Asman Kamama (Tiaty), Oscar Sudi (Kapseret), Moses Kuria (Gatundu South), Mathew Lempurkel (Laikipia North), and nominated Senator Elizabeth Ongoro.

Former Judiciary Chief Registrar, Gladys Boss Sholei, has also been dimmed unfit to run for the Uasin Gishu County Women Representative seat by KNCHR.

Nairobi Governor, Dr Evans Kidero, is seeking for his re-election under campaigns dubbed ‘Tano Tena’, but this might be an up heal task if allegations by civil society are anything to go by and IEBC decides to comply and bar him from the ballot in August.

The group gives an array of allegations including involvement in Ksh 4.6 billion procurement irregularities when he was planning to introduce a city metro transportation system, the infamous bribery allegations of giving Justice Philip Tunoi Ksh 200 million among others.

Machakos County boss, Alfred Mutua, will face off with Wiper party’s Wavinya Ndeti. According to the human rights body, the Machakos County Ambulances that he initiated back in 2013 have come to haunt him as the manner of acquiring the 16 Subaru vehicles raised issues of been bought at Ksh 147.3 million when the exact worth was Ksh 145.3 million. Procurement irregularities also ensued in the construction of Kithimani-Makutano road worth Ksh 568 million.

The self-proclaimed Sultan of Mombasa, Governor Ali Hassan Joho, is on the list by virtue of his confession of scoring a D+ in his KCSE exams, amounting to questionable university degree-which is a requirement to run for presidential and gubernatorial seat, which he acquired from Kampala University.

There was uproar not just in Bungoma County but Kenya when an audit report revealed that the 10 non-carcinogenic wheelbarrows had been bought at Ksh 109,320 each. Governor Kenneth Lusaka has also been linked to the M’Big Company – a company that has won the bulk of the county’s contracts is a possible conflict of interest. The civil society sees these reasons, based on the Senate Finance Committee Report, as enough for IEBC to lock out the governor who has since defected to the ruling Jubilee Party.

A recent report on the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal where the Devolution Ministry lost Ksh 1.8 billion recommends that former Cabinet Secretary, Anne Waiguru, be barred from contesting in the Kirinyaga gubernatorial race as she played a key role in the complex racket that led to the loss of the taxpayers’ money. The civil society gives the same reasons in them naming Waiguru in the list of shame.

Unlike the ‘Sultan’ who is on the list only because of academic qualifications, Nairobi Senator, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, has an array of allegations including indecent conduct in public that comprises of the December 2014 incident at Mtwapa Weighbridge, Kilifi County, and a physical fight with Governor Kidero, disrupting proceedings of a Senate Public Accounts Committee and influencing the award of a Kenya Pipeline Company for a Ksh 1.35 billion kickback.

Homabay Governor, Cyprian Awiti, still has a case with the EACC where he is accused of possible misappropriation of Ksh 200 million meant for Agri-City project in the county.

Laikipia North MP, Mathew Lempurkel, is no stranger to controversy as he faces charges of assaulting nominated MP Sarah Korere as well as threatening one constable, Nicholas Kipruto, at Rumuruti Police Station in Laikipia West.

Both Kabete and Gatundu South MPs, Ferdinand Waititu and Moses Kuria, respectively are on the list based on National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Report on counts of incitement to violence and endangering the of inter-communal harmony and cohesion although the former faces additional charges of questionable academic qualification (degree).

According to the civil society group, Nominated Senator, Elizabeth Ongoro, and Migori gubernatorial hopeful, Achilo Ayacko, should be barred from vying in the coming August elections because of the roles they played in violence witnessed before and during Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party primaries leading to Ongoro being disqualified from contesting in Ruaraka constituency by the party.

Civil society put Kapsaret MP, Oscar Sudi, who won the Jubilee Party ticket to defend his seat, on the list based on allegations of forgery of official documents as they argue he was elected into public office in 2013 because of presenting falsified academic qualifications to IEBC.

Alfred Keter’s altercation with Gilgil weighbridge officials back in January 2015 has caused him to be among the 10 red-carded political aspirants.

Tiaty MP, Asman Kamama, is on the list based on serious allegations that have been laid before him regarding his role in the ongoing community clashes in Baringo as well as claims of assassination of opponents.

Uasin Gishu county Jubilee party nominee on the Women Representative race, Gladys Boss Sholei, is accused of procurement irregularities that include the purchase of official residence of the Chief Justice at Ksh 310 million.

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