IEBC defends decision to replace Mbadi with Kipchumba, cite 2022 ODM list
The Commission said it used the original party list submitted by ODM in July 2022 and followed the required order of gender and priority to arrive at Kipchumba’s name.
The electoral commission has defended its decision to nominate Harold Kipchumba to replace John Mbadi, saying the process followed the law and was based on a list submitted by ODM in 2022.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) explained that Kipchumba was selected in accordance with the Elections Act and the Elections (General) Regulations, 2012.
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The Commission said it used the original party list submitted by ODM in July 2022 and followed the required order of gender and priority to arrive at Kipchumba’s name.
“Section 37 of the Elections Act and Regulation 56B of the Elections (General) Regulations, 2012, provide that a party list seat that falls vacant shall be re-allocated to the next qualified nominee in order of gender and priority, as originally submitted by the political party. In this case, the nominee who qualified under the law was Harold Kimuge Kipchumba, who is of the same gender as Hon Mbadi and was the next in line on the submitted list,” the Commission stated.
This comes after growing protests from some ODM party officials and members of the Orange Democratic Movement Youth League, who claimed that the nomination process was flawed and not in line with the list’s categories.
Youth League President John Ketora and his deputy, Martin Muthusi, openly rejected Kipchumba’s nomination, saying the seat should have gone to Ketora, who was next on the “Workers” category of the list. They faulted the Commission for selecting someone from the “Persons with Disabilities” category, which they argued had already been filled.
“We cannot replace a worker with a person in disability category because they already had their slot,” said Muthusi, maintaining that the Commission erred and must correct the nomination.
The Youth League leaders demanded that the IEBC reverse its decision and allocate the seat to Ketora in accordance with the original party list.
Another ODM official, David Kantai, also criticised the nomination and urged the Commission to rescind it.
Ketora, while distancing the broader ODM leadership from the controversy, squarely blamed the IEBC for what he described as an injustice.
“I will not expose my secret card, but we have reinforced every corner to ensure we handle this matter expeditiously,” he said.
However, the Commission pushed back against these claims and stood by its decision.
“Respectfully, this is not accurate,” the IEBC said in response to assertions that the nomination had flouted the law.
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