All Eight Presidential Candidates Free to Participate in Repeat Election, Says IEBC

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that all eight candidates in the presidential election held on August 8th are entitled to participate in the October 26th repeat election scheduled for October 26th.

The announcement by the IEBC follows a judgment issued on Wednesday by High Court Justice John Mativo that all eight candidates are entitled to participate in the repeat election. The judge ruled in the favor of candidate Ekuru Aukot who filed a petition seeking to be included in the repeat exercise.

The IEBC had eelier ruled that only President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga would participate in the repeat election, since the other candidates were not party to the petition filed in the Supreme Court that led to the nullification of the earlier election and had conceded.

The commission gazetted the two candidates, Kenyatta, and Odinga in a Gazette Notice dated September 5th, 2017.

“In the judgment delivered today, the Court directed that the name of Ekuru Aukot can be included by way of corrigenda. However, since all candidates who participated in the last election were entitled to run in the fresh presidential election, the Commission will comply with the direction to include the names of the other candidates by way of corrigenda,” read a part of a press statement release by the IEBC.

The IEBC also noted that Raila Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka sent a letter to the commission indicating their decision to withdraw from the repeat election, but that the team has not submitted the statutory Form 24A as required by law. “Once the Commission receives the requisite Notice from any of the candidates, it will process the same in accordance with the requisite of the Law,” said the IEBC.

The commission further added that it cannot compel a candidate to participate in an election, and that the law allows any candidate to “withdraw his/her candidature by delivering to the Commission a duly filled Form 24A.”

Nasa presidential candidate and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka on Tuesday held a press conference and announced that they have withdrawn from the repeat election, saying the IEBC has not made meaningful reforms needed to conduct a free and fair election as directed by the Supreme Court.

In addition to Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, and Ekuru Aukot, the other candidates in the August 8^th presidential election included Mohamed Abduba Dida, Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo, Japhet Kavinga Kaluyu, Michael Wainaina Mwaura, and Joseph Nyaga. Japheth Kaluyu today announced he is re-joining the race following the High Court ruling.