Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has confirmed that the party demanded a Sh250,000 fee from hopefuls eyeing the Kibra parliamentary seat.
The seat fell vacant following the death of its former holder Ken Okoth last month, which has consequently seen a good number of aspirants emerge to fight for the party ticket.
Speaking on Wednesday, the SG said that the fee is justifiable, as far as preparations for the nomination exercise set for Saturday is concerned.
He added that the money is nothing compared to the amount set to be spent in the primaries, considering that the party will as well fully sponsor its candidate at a cost far much higher than the fee collected from the aspirants combined.
"Pesa ambazo tunatumia katika nominations ni maradufu ya hizi. Pia kumbuka unapochukua tikiti unakuwa mzigo wa chama; tunakuprintia T-shirts na mambo yale mengine," he said on Radio Citizen's Mjadala Wa Citizen.
This translates to; "The amount we will spend in the nominations is actually double. Also, remember that you become our burden once you clinch the ticket; we print your t-shirts and every other thing."
He announced plans to acquire services of enough police officers during the exercise to prevent the clashes that have been seen erupting during such exercises in the past.
Sifuna further warned that under his leadership, aspirants whose supporters will engage in destruction of party property due will not only be expelled from the party but also prosecuted.
"Hapo nyuma wapo watu wakiona wananshindwa wanaleta vijana kuharibu ballot boxes. Sasa tutahakikisha sio tu kuwafukuza katika chama lakini tutawapeleka kortini kwa sababu hii bi malicious damage of property," he added.
This translates to; "Previously we have seen people bring in the youth to destroy ballot boxes when headed for defeat. We will no longer stop at kicking them out of the party but also take them to court because this amounts to malicious damage of property."