UDA elections: Mystery, anger as candidates not on party register declared winners

A day after the recent United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party elections, candidates who were vying for seats in the just concluded polls have expressed concerns about suspected interference with the voting process. 

This follows complaints on Friday from voters and aspirants regarding discrepancies in voter and candidate names within the electoral system.

As per the electoral procedure, Friday’s elected ward representatives become delegates tasked with electing delegates at the constituency level, who then elect the county chairperson, who then attends the National Delegates Conference (NDC) to elect the party's national leaders. 

In Embakasi South Constituency, area aspirants indicate that despite the closure of polling stations on Friday due to election irregularities and major challenges, individuals whose names were not correctly registered in the system were announced as winners, despite them not being able to vote.

“In my polling station hatukuwa na uchaguzi but I appeared to be the winner na sikujichagua mimi mwenyewe na sijachaguliwa na mtu yeyote,” said Embakasi South Youth Representative Aspirant Stacy Nyambura.

This has incited anger among aspirants who doubt the credibility of the election outcomes. The aspirants are now calling for a redo of the elections.

“The members who were coming to vote, they were coming to vote for who? All the polling centres were closed so we are worried about where these numbers come from. If this system cannot be audited and placed in safe hands, we are going to compromise the elections of the party and that is one way of killing the party,” Youth Representative Aspirant South Masaki Samwel stated.

Embakasi South Chairman Aspirant Wycliff Mirina added: “What we want is free and fair elections…ile kitu tuliambia Chairman ni kwamba sisi what we know is that there were no elections at Embakasi South, we are assuring you that what happened yesterday is that something was planned somewhere at somebody’s house.”

In Narok County, controversy has emerged regarding the true victor, casting a shadow over the outcome of the elections as Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu and his rival Gabriel Ole Tongoyo both assert their claims to victory.

“The few people who tried to disrupt the elections we know that they come from other parties,” Ole Ntutu said.

Narok West MP Gabriel Ole Tongonyo added: “We had a very bad situation where our competitors from the other side engaged in gross misconduct, there was a situation where they running away with the gadgets and go and voted in cars.”

Responding to these grievances, Cleophas Malala, the Secretary General of UDA, has urged all concerned and affected parties to officially submit their complaints to the party via email by Sunday.

“Tunahimiza watu wote ambao wakona malalamishi kama kura yako unaona haikuenda vizuri, unaeza leta maswala ya kulalamika katika chama within 48 hours,” Malala said.

With tensions escalating and calls for a redo of the elections gaining traction, the UDA leadership is under increasing pressure to address the alleged irregularities and uphold the integrity of their internal democratic mechanisms.