IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati [PHOTO/kenya-today.com]
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has said independent political aspirants have until May 8 to submit to the Registrar of Political Parties their forms and symbols.
IEBC communications director Andrew Limo said that though Friday was not the official deadline for the submission of the symbols and forms, it was part of “administrative advice” and that the politicians have until 5pm on Monday.
Limo said the Monday deadline will not be extended in line with the constitutional cap that says they do so 90 days to elections.
He added that this date was picked to allow the commission enough time to go through the documents.
According to the commission’s rules, an independent candidate should not be a member of any political party at least three months to the general election.
Joshua Ngale, a commissioner working at the registry said that there was an overwhelming number of candidates this year.
“We have cleared 3,000 candidates so far but the number is still overwhelming. We hope the IEBC can extend the deadline so that we serve everyone,” he said.
Over 1,200 had signed up as independent candidates by Friday evening, a number that is four times compared to 2013.