Tribunal orders Jubilee to conduct primaries for Naivasha parliamentary seat

The Political Parties Dispute Tribunal has annulled the nomination Ndegwa Nguthiru as the Jubilee party aspirant for Naivasha parliamentary seat.

The court has also ordered the party to conduct a legitimate nomination for the constituency in the next two weeks.

This after a petition, filed by Lawyer Njoroge Ngigi who argued that Naivasha residents were never given a chance to exercise their democratic rights.

Njoroge who is also seeking the parliamentary seat lauded the court’s decision noting that justice had been done and the electorate given a chance to choose their candidate.

“We are happy with the court’s decision to annul the Naivasha nomination and we are calling on the Jubilee party to call for a fresh exercise,” he said.

Addressing the press in Naivasha, he noted that the boardroom decision had adversely affected the party’s popularity but was hopeful that this could be rectified.

“Unlike other aspirants who went Independent, I have stuck with Jubilee as I am sure that under Azimio La Umoja, we shall win in the next elections,” he said.

One of his supporters Stephen Mwangi welcomed the decision saying failure to hold party primaries had denied residents their democratic right to elect a candidate of their choice.

“The court has come to our rescue a few individuals wanted to impose a leader on us which amounts to dictatorship,” he said.

Another supporter Mary Njeri noted that the candidate picked by the party had failed in four consecutive previous elections.

“We are lifetime members of Jubilee but we are deeply concerned over the manner that they picked candidates for particular seats without involving voters,” she said.

This was echoed by Anderson Gitau who said that an aspirant should be a reflection of the voters and not a few individuals.

“The Jubilee leadership alleges that they used consensus and negotiated democracy to nominate aspirants and this amounts to dictatorship,” he said.