Machakos governor hopeful Wavinya Ndeti and running mate Peter Mathuki leave Milimani Law Courts on Wednesday this week [Photo/the-star.co.ke].
Machakos gubernatorial candidate by Wiper ticket Wavinya Ndeti has told high court judge, Justice George Odunga that the IEBC's Dispute Resolution Committee had no jurisdiction to hear and determine the case that was challenging her candidature over allegations of party hopping. In her submission on Friday, Wavinya, through lawyers Willis Otieno and Nzamba Kitonga, said the jurisdiction to determine the question of party membership is conferred on the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal and not the commission.She urged Odunga to throw out the IEBC committee’s decision that barrs her from contesting."IEBC was the wrong forum for the petitioner to raise his complaint against Wavinya. He should appeal against the decision at the High Court," said Kitonga.Wavinya further stated that MCA Peter Kyalo, the petitioner, was not a candidate during the nominations and came in at the last minute as a 'busybody'.Kyalo filed a petition before the IEBC disputes committee saying Wavinya’s nomination should have been rejected by the returning officer “because it was irregular, unlawful and nullified by the disputes committee”.The IEBC committee nullified Wavinya’s nomination on Wiper ticket on June 8 for being a 'member' of two political parties.The former Kathiani MP was accused of violating the law by becoming a member of Wiper on April 6, a day after the defection deadline set by the commission.The IEBC, in a circular, set April 5 as the last day for aspirants to switch parties if they wanted to participate in the August 8 election.However, Iebc continued to maintain that Wavinya is guilty of party hopping and should not be allowed to run for election.The commission, through lawyer Paul Nyamodi, submitted that Wavinya did not resign from the Chama Cha Uzalendo Party as required by the law before moving to Wiper.“The grounds made by Wavinya in this case have not been proven, and for those reasons the application for judicial review should be dismissed with costs,” Nyamodi said.