UDA to use IEBC register during primaries, says Aisha Jumwa

The United Democratic Movement (UDA) party will use the Independent Elections and Boundaries Register during its primaries, Malindi Member of Parliament Aisha Jumwa has said.

Jumwa, who will be vying for the Kilifi gubernatorial position in this year’s General Election on the party’s ticket, assured all aspirants seeking the party’s ticket that the exercise will be free and fair and urged them not to panic.

She said more than 5,600 people seeking various elective positions had applied for the party’s ticket and explained that the party’s National Elections Board (NEB) would use the secret ballot top get the most popular candidates to represent the party.

Ms Jumwa, who was speaking to journalists after holding a rally in Karima area of Malindi Town, said only aspirants who would have no competitors would be handed direct tickets, while the rest would be determined either through consensus or voters during the primaries.

“The NEB has said that it would not give anybody a direct ticket except those who will have no competitors in their respective electoral units,” Jumwa said.

He added she was among the party’s aspirants who would not be subjected to the nomination process because she does not had challengers in the party for the Kilifi gubernatorial position.

Jumwa’s sentiments have come after some members protested that the party had already settled for those it would give its ticket for the various seats.

However, an aspirant for the Malindi Parliamentary seat, Mr. Peter Ponda, faulted the use of the IEBC register, saying it could be exploited by opponents to give UDA a weak candidate to compete with candidates from other parties.

Mr. Ponda, who had announced to use the party’s ticket for the Malindi Parliamentary seat, defected to the Amani National Congress (ANC) Saturday after the party brought in Jilore Member of County Assembly Daniel Chiriba to square it out with Ponda in the primaries.

Although he said he had defected to the ANC to save the party’s financial resources that would have been used at the nominations, pundits believe he left UDA for fear that Chiriba would be preferred by the party for the seat.