President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Jubilee Party Leader. He has been urged not dismiss the aspirants who are now vying as independent candidates. [Photo: monitor.co.ke]
KANU Party Secretary General Nick Salat has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to hold talks with the aspirants that lost in the just concluded Jubilee Party primaries.
Speaking during an interview with Hot 96 on Monday morning, Salat said the Jubilee Party Leader should not dismiss the aspirants who are now vying as independent candidates but should engage and consider them ahead of August general elections.
“This (the independent candidates) is a disgruntled group because of sham primaries. They will bring in numbers and people will have to listen to them. The sooner political parties start consulting them the better,” he said.
Salat remarks comes a day after details emerged that plans are underway by losers of the recent JP nominations to form an Independent Candidates Movement to spearhead their interests.
The Movement is said to be headed by President Kenyatta's close ally Kiambu Governor William Kabogo who has already ditched Jubilee to defend his seat as an independent candidate after losing JP ticket to Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu.
The KANU boss predicted that a good number of these independent candidates will make it in August, warning that they can prove to be a dominant force in the next Parliament.
“Imagine if about 30 of them come in Parliament, you can’t just ignore them. This number is significant enough to create a serious shift in the proceedings of the house,” he added.
There has been a surge in the number of people seeking to run as independents across the country, with at least 4,000 getting clearance from the Registrar of Political Parties.
Salat said this was because most political parties didn't conduct free and fair nominations.