Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, alias Baba Yao,
has been locked out of the Nairobi County gubernatorial race.
This comes after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
(IEBC) made it clear that the rule of law will take course in vetting leaders
who have been ousted from earlier posts.
Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, the Commission Chair
Wafula Chebukati said any leader who has ever been impeached cannot be allowed
to vie for any electoral post in the country.
“No impeached leader can run for elective office; law to be
followed in clearing candidates for by-elections. The commission will not clear
any leader with such records to vie for any electoral post,” says Mr.
Chebukati.
This comes even the race for Nairobi gubernatorial post
kicks off with party nominations, after Governor Mike Sonko was impeached over cross
misconduct and abuse of office.
Various parties and individuals have expressed interest
after submitting their names to IEBC as at Tuesday 29 December 2020, however
the Orange Democratic party says it will support the Jubilee party in the race.
Jubilee cleared former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru, who
is also the Building Bridges Initiative co-chairman, and city businesswoman
Agnes Kagure to race off to City Hall.
Waititu had expressed interest in the race, but his
impeachment will be a stumbling block to his ambitions to lead Nairobi County.
Ferdinand Waititu, former Kiambu Governor. Image/Courtesy
He was cleared on Monday with the registrar of political
parties to vie as an independent candidate, saying that “there is no election
law that can bar me from contesting for the seat because I am only a suspect of
an economic crime because no court has ever convicted me.”
However, the commission made the clouds clearer to Waititu
on Wednesday, after citing a similar impeachment fashion he went through
earlier this year.
Referendum
Other aspirants include former assistant minister Margaret
Wanjiru, Liberal Democratic Party founder member Dennis Kodhe and Kimori
Machoka, a former County Executive Committee Member under Governor Evans
Kidero.
Meanwhile, the commission said that it will set its own
timelines for BBI referendum upon verification of signatures, which are yet to
kick off in January 2021.
