Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has strongly opposed the proposed supervision of Jubilee Party nominations by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
ODM says IEBC conducting the primaries is unconstitutional.
Jubilee has announced that the polls body will oversee its nominations to ensure they are free and fair.
Party secretary for political affairs Opiyo Wandayi says that IEBC is the constitutionally mandated arbiter in disputes that may arise from internal party activities like nominations and can therefore not be party to such activities.
Wandayi said IEBC’s mandate as spelled out in Article 88 of the Constitution cannot be donated to a third party, under any circumstance.
“The IEBC cannot therefore be expected to sit in arbitration over disputes that may arise from a party nomination exercise that it has itself presided over,” he said in the statement.
The ODM boss further stated that the IEBC could use the taxpayers’ money to run Jubilee Party elections.
“For Jubilee to insist on raiding public coffers to finance its nominations is not only illegal but also utterly insensitive, particularly in view of the current harsh economic environment that the Kenyan public has been subjected to as a result of Jubilee's own failed policies,” the Ugunja MP said.
Wandayi said the IEBC should only concentrate on the upcoming general election and avoid other distractions.
“The last thing it needs is a distraction in the form of predictably messy party nominations by an outfit with no known functioning structures such as Jubilee,” he said.